The Road In Which Life Leads
by UnspokenFor92
Summary: What happens when one letter from Frank upon his death changes the lives of the Adams Foster family forever? AU.
1. The Road To A First Meeting

**A/N:** New to FanFiction my buddies **guitarkid, ahoplesship, **and **theadamsfosterkid** led me here. So please be gentle with those reviews, yes? I'm a huge fan of The Fosters and as I was lying in bed last night, this idea came to my head.

**All the background info that you need to know to comprehend what the hell is going on in this story:** Stef and Lena have been together for ten years (as per-pilot cannon), but Brandon and Callie are twins (hang in there with me please), Jesus, Mariana, and Jude are adopted by Stef and Lena. This story is set in senior year for Brandon and Callie and flashbacks will be throughout the entire story to learn about what their lives were like pre-this story. Also, Lena is the principal at Anchor Beach Community Charter School in this story... so yeah basically don't expect it to follow what actual-cannon actually is. However, scenes that I find cute or downright hilarious will be added into the story. And imagine this taking place after the episode Padre.

**Plot line:** Stef finds out some interesting hidden facts upon the death of her father. How will she deal with it? And how will her family react to this news?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Fosters or any of the obvious characters in here, if I did that would mean I would own Teri Polo and Sherri Saum and all the other cast members on the show... and as cool as they would be it would also be creepy... and I'm not creepy.

* * *

**Chapter One: The Road To A First Meeting**

Stef Adams Foster was sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee one Sunday morning. It had been a long, tiring few weeks upon the passing of her father. She had been putting this off, reading a handwritten letter from the man since she found it cleaning out his house.

"Be home by curfew please," Stef heard Lena say as the door opened.

"Alright, Mama," her 17 year old son said to your wife as he walked out to the front door.

"I love you," Stef heard her wife say as she came closer to the door.

"I love you too Mama," Brandon said.

"And don't leave the gas tank on empty," Lena said. "You know how Callie gets when you do that."

Brandon chuckled, "Yeah, yeah." He said. "Bye Mom," he said to Stef as he walked down to his car on his way to band practice.

"Bye B," she said. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mom." He said getting in the driver's seat and putting the key in the ignition and driving off.

Lena poked her head out to see her wife sitting there with a lukewarm cup of coffee staring at an enclosed envelope, she went to sit next to the blonde and put her head on the cop's shoulder, "Y'know," Lena whispered after awhile, "whatever it says in there, isn't going to change. You might as well rip it off like a band-aid."

Stef took a deep breath, "I'm scared in what it might say," she said.

"Do you want to do it alone?" Lena asked. Stef shook her head and turned it over to look at it.

_Dear Stef, _it began, _if you're reading this it means that I'm dead and if you're reading this it means I haven't gotten rid of it because I was too stubborn to make things right with you. I'm really sorry that I put my Christian faith before you. I'm sorry that I've let you and B and Callie down. I'm sorry. There's something you should know, something that how it came about, I'm not proud of, but the result is something so beautiful that I wouldn't wish for the mistake to be rectified. 23 years and nine months ago, I got a woman pregnant. You have a brother and I did father him at least a little. His name is Benjamin Lincoln Carlson. And other than you, he's the best thing that's come into my life. I know I didn't show it in the best way possible, but I do love you. I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me. Love, Dad_

Stef wiped the tears away from her eyes as she read it again, letting everything sink in, she had a brother. A brother that she knew nothing about. Lena was trying to comfort her wife in the best way that she knew how.

"Benjamin Carlson," Lena said softly. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"Not sure," Stef said, "maybe he lives in San Diego. Maybe he went to Anchor Beach."

"Maybe," Lena said. "Are you going to want to track him down?"

Stef shrugged, "I do, but I don't. I'm not even sure he knows about me." She said.

"Maybe it would be good," Lena said, "Connecting with this sibling. If he knew your dad even a little, who knows how he's taking it."

"What if he's like my dad?" Stef asked. "I'm not sure if I'm willing to deal with the judgement anymore."

"Then meet him," Lena said, "you don't have to have a relationship with him. Your only goal is to meet him. Who knows, maybe he needs a big sister in his life?"

"Maybe," Stef breathed. "Is it okay if I meet him alone?" She asked.

"Whatever makes you feel comfortable, baby." Lena said kissing her wife's cheek. "Just know, I'll always be here for you."

Stef nodded, "I do know that, I love you baby." She said.

"I love you too, sweetheart." Lena said. "I love you too."

* * *

Stef spent the rest of the morning googling this supposed brother of hers when Jude walked into the kitchen nook where she was sitting.

"Hey buddy," Stef said, "what's up?"

"Uh, Mama told me to tell you that lunch is ready." He said hesitantly seeing that Stef was busy.

"Okay," she said softly with a warm smile, "tell her I'll be in there in a minute."

The boy nodded and walked back into the other room. Stef looks back at the computer screen and looks at what she had clicked on. She had clicked on a popular media hub website that she knew that her older kids went on every once in awhile. She clicked on the _'Meet The Staff'_ tab on the website and what she was looking for was the first on the screen. She looked at a picture of this Benjamin Carlson and she knew that she found him. The man looked like a half Asian version of her - no - _their_ father. She read the bio:

_Benjamin Carlson, CEO_

_Education: BA and MA in Mass Communications and Journalism - San Diego State University_

_Grew up in: Split my formative, childhood years between Los Angeles with my mom and San Diego with my dad._

_Relationship status: I can barely take care of myself, let alone somebody else who needs me. In other words, single. Happily single._

_Favorite color: Blue_

_Favorite sport(s) team: Football? The Chargers. Baseball? The Dodgers. Go ahead, San Diego, hate me for it, but I'm forever bleeding Dodger Blue._

_Do what on your free time: I work out, surf, and occasionally spend time with my family back in LA._

_Role here at The Opinionated Buzz: To eat all the donuts and drink all the coffee in the break room. Actually, I'm the top guy. I make executive decisions that my colleagues don't get to... and I eat all the donuts and drink all the coffee in the break room._

Stef looked at the picture again and couldn't help, but see what her dad would've looked like if he had Asian in him. She woke up that morning thinking she was an only child and by lunch she found out that she had a younger brother, who she now just wanted to meet.

"Honey?" Lena called walking into the kitchen nook.

Stef made teary eye contact with her wife, "I found him," she whispered. Lena gave her a 'what are you talking about' look and Stef whispered again, "I found my baby brother."

Lena's eyes widened as she walked towards her wife and quickly sat next to her looking at the computer screen, "He's handsome." Lena managed.

"He looks like my dad, if he were to have Asian in him." Stef said. "I can't believe it, my baby brother's successful."

"Do you want to meet him?" Lena asked.

Stef nodded, "I do," she said. "I really, really do."

The couple shared a look and stared at each other for awhile and little did they know, their oldest daughter was standing on the other side of the entryway, listening into the conversation. She just wanted to make sure her mom was okay and she secretly learned that she had an uncle.

* * *

The next day, Stef had off, so she decided to go meet this mysterious brother of hers. But before she would conquer that, she had to conquer a chaotic Adams Foster breakfast.

"Callie," Stef yelled up the stairs for the third, "come on, shake a leg. Hurry up."

"I'll be down in like two minutes tops," a muffled yell was heard back.

"Jesus," Lena said, "did you take your medication?"

"Yes, Mama," he replied with his mouth full of a waffle.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Stef said. "Use your manners."

"Yes Mom," he said still with a mouthful of food.

Stef rolled her eyes, "At least he's not putting ketchup on it," Jude said from across Mariana, who was next to Jesus.

"_Don't_ encourage him," Lena said, "please be my favorite child and don't encourage your brother to put ketchup on his breakfast."

"I thought you didn't play favorites," Callie said walking into the room.

"Oh, she's alive," Stef said playfully, as Callie took her seat.

The teenager rolled her eyes as Stef placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, "Yeah, it's not my fault Mariana takes the longest in the bathroom in the morning."

"Well if you would get up earlier, you wouldn't be the last in the bathroom," Mariana argued back.

"What can I say?" Callie stated, "I like sleep. Especially during soccer season."

"Yeah," Lena said, "we know. If Vice Principal Brown finds you sleeping on the beach again, she is going to give you a detention. So please, take your naps after school, in your own bed."

Callie nodded and dug into her breakfast, "Will do, Mama," she said.

"Alright," Lena said addressing the entire family, "Mom has the day off today, but she's not picking you guys up from school. I have an all campus staff meeting and Callie has soccer practice, so you all either can go home with Brandon or walk, okay?"

Three okay's came from the three youngest Adams Foster kids and Brandon then spoke up, "And I have practice with the band, so if you want a ride please be on time."

"Yeah, we know bro," Jesus said.

As plates emptied, Stef cleared the table, getting nervous in meeting Benjamin. She was washing plates as Lena came behind her, "You nervous?" Lena asked, rubbing Stef's shoulders a little.

Stef nodded, "Yeah, really nervous." She admitted.

"If things go well, invite him over for dinner." Lena said.

"You sure?" Stef said. "What are we going to tell the kids?"

"The truth." Lena said, matter-of-factly.

"Should we warn them?" Stef asked.

Lena nodded, "They're all still here," she said. "We can do it before they leave."

Stef put the plate down and nodded, "Gather them around real quick." She said.

Lena nodded and went to gather the kids, "Alright one more thing," Lena said as all the kids stood in the kitchen. "Grandpa Frank left your mom a little letter." She started giving Stef time to gather her thoughts.

"Really?" Mariana asked, "Was it a mean letter?" She asked knowing how rough things were between the father-daughter duo.

"No," Stef answered, "it was actually really loving." The cop took a deep breath, "The reason I can't pick you up today is because I found out that I have a brother and I'm going to meet him."

"Where does he live?" Jude asked.

"I'm not sure, but he owns _The Opinionated Buzz, _and I'm going to his office downtown. I just don't know how long this is going to take and how I'm going to be feeling afterwards." Stef said, ruffling Jude's hair a little.

"And if things do go well, he might be over for dinner," Lena added. "So if that's the case, Mom will text all of you and we would like you to be on your best behavior, okay?"

Five nods were given to the moms, "Wait," Jesus said, "you have a brother who started one of the best media hubs in the world?" He asked incredulously.

"I guess," Stef said. "I'm not sure if he wants to get to know me. So we'll play everything by ear. You five just need to go to school and learn something okay?" Five more nods went around the room.

"Alright," Brandon said, "let's get a move on siblings."

And one by one the siblings left the kitchen leaving the couple alone for a moment, "Text me okay?" Lena said turning to her wife.

Stef leaned in to kiss her, "You know I will. I love you baby." She said.

"I love you too." Lena said returning the kiss.

* * *

Stef took a deep breath as she looked at the building of where _The Opinionated Buzz_ office was. She knew that this would either go really good or really, really bad. She walked in and saw the receptionist sitting at the front desk.

"Hi," the young woman said to Stef, "how can I help you?"

"I, uh, I was wondering if there was by any chance I could see a Benjamin Carlson?"

"Sure," the young woman chirped, "let me see if he's available. Can I get a name?"

"Uh yeah, Stefanie Adams Foster." She said stumbling over her own words.

The receptionist picked up the phone and called up to the editorial floor, "Hi, is Ben available?" She said. "I have a Stefanie Adams Foster, here to see him." Pause. "Uh huh, I'll send her up." The brunette receptionist hung up the phone, "Here's a guest pass," she said, "take the elevator to the top floor and his assistant will lead you to him."

"Sounds-sounds good," Stef said taking the guest pass walking to the elevator, to the top floor. When she got up there another young woman was standing there waiting for her.

"Stefanie Adams Foster?" The young woman asked as Stef stepped out of the elevator.

"Yes-yes, ma'am." Stef said, her nerves getting the best of her.

"This way," the young woman said. "You came on a good day, Mr. Carlson's schedule is wide open today."

"Oh, cool." Stef said. as she was led into a big corner office.

"Mr. Carlson," the young woman said, "I have a Stefanie Adams Foster for you."

"Ahh, Sarah, please, call me Ben, we've been over this already." He said standing up adjusting his tie. He looked at Stef straight in the eyes, "Hi, Mrs. Adams Foster," he said as his assistant walked out and closed the door behind her.

"Uh, you can call me Stef," she managed. "I, uh, I'm sorry to barge in like this."

"No, no," Ben said. "I've been waiting for this moment since I was five years old." Stef gave him a confused look, "I know, your Dad's daughter."

"You-you called him Dad?" Stef asked.

"Yeah, I mean, he was my dad too, right?" He asked feeling like he overstepped a line.

"Oh yeah, of course, sorry," Stef said. "You've been waiting to meet me ever since you were five?"

Ben nodded, "I have," he said. "Dad didn't talk much about you other than when I asked who you were in a picture. Especially after you and your partner, Lena got together."

Stef nodded understandingly, "I hope that it doesn't bother you that I'm gay." She got out.

"It won't," he said. "Y'see, Dad wasn't a huge fan of my mom for that same factor. My mom and her partner have been together ever since I was five."

"Your-your mom is gay?" Stef asked.

Ben nodded, "Yeah," he smiled as he walked over to his desk and picked up a picture frame and showed it to Stef. The picture showed five people, Ben, two other kids - a teenage boy and a young girl - and two grown women. They were dressed up for what looked like a wedding, "My moms just recently got married. As you can see the Asian woman is my mom and the white blonde is my mama. My mama taught my mom how to be herself. She hid in the closet for years before I was even born. Hence my conception."

"Oh," Stef said. "Uh, your brother and sister, how did they become family? If you don't mind me asking." She asked.

"We adopted them out of the foster care system when they both were eight," he said. "Leo is 17 and Leah is 10."

Stef smiled, "Yeah, Lena and I have three of our own that we did that with too. I already had twins when Lena and I started seeing each other."

Ben smiled a charming smile, "That's really cool, Stef." He said.

Things were going a lot smoother than Stef thought, so she decided to take the plunge, "I don't want to take up your entire day, but uh if you're not busy tonight, Lena and the kids want to meet you. Lena is probably the best cook I've ever met. So, if you want to come over, you're more than welcome."

"Uh yeah," he said. "I was going to just sit around the house tonight, but meeting some family wouldn't be too bad."

"Cool, uh, if you have some paper I can write down the address for you." Stef said.

"Yeah for sure, definitely," he said grabbing a scratch piece of paper off the desk.

Stef jotted down the address and handed it to him, "I'd like to get to know you better." She said.

He nodded, "Me too," he said. "I've always wanted to meet you."

Stef smiled warmly, "We may have one problem though," she said.

"What's that?" He asked nervously.

"According to your website, you're a Dodgers fan." She started.

"Uh yeah, born and raised pretty much in LA." He got out.

"Y'see my middle son and I are Padres fans, in fact, so was Dad. He _hated_ the Dodgers."

"Which made watching Dodger-Padre games all the more fun and the fun continues." He said with a smile.

Stef smiled, yesterday morning she woke up as an only child, this morning she woke up as an nervous older sister, to what she found out by lunch was to the best younger brother ever.

* * *

**A/N 2:** The next chapter will be the Adams Foster dinner with Ben! Hope you like it.


	2. The Road To Sibling Bonding

**A/N:** Hey oh! Thanks for the support!

* * *

**Chapter Two: The Road To Sibling Bonding**

Stef was still a little nervous when she got home. She sent a text in the family ongoing text message to her wife and kids.

**_Stef:_**_ Hey beautiful family! Tonight's a go! Kids, please be on time for dinner to meet Ben. And Lena honey, I've got dinner handled._

Stef paced the kitchen trying to figure out the perfect dinner for her family and her brother. She had originally said Lena was going to cook, but then she realized that Lena had an all campus staff meeting before dinner that night. Ben had said upon her leaving the office that he's still in that mindset of a college student.

_"If it's free and delicious, I don't care what it is." He said as he walked her to her car._

That didn't help Stef any, but she was still on board for making her brother the best dinner ever. She was brought out of her thoughts by her phone ringing, she answered it with a smile, "Hi love," she said to Lena.

_"Hi baby," Lena said. "How bad are you stressing out right now?"_

"What makes you think I'm stressed out?" Stef asked incredulously.

_"Baby," Lena said through a chuckle, "I know you. You want things perfect for tonight."_

"He's been wanting to meet me since he was five." Stef said. "Of course I want things perfect."

_"And you were worried that he wouldn't accept you because you were gay." Lena said with a knowing smile on her face._

"His mom is gay," Stef said. "My dad, I guess, had a huge problem with it. So the poor kid was back and forth between here and LA for 13 years."

_"Oh?" Lena said, "His mom is gay? Really?"_

"Mhm," she acknowledged, "they adopted two kids out of the foster care system. He really seems down to Earth and like he's got a good head on his shoulders. I feel like he'll be a good influence on our kids."

_"Yeah?" Lena said softly. "That's good."_

"What should I make for dinner?" Stef asked.

_"Barbecue up those steaks in the freezer?" Lena suggested, "You know Callie's going to want to some protein after practice and we've been saving them for a special occasion."_

"Yeah, introducing my baby brother to our kids _is_ a special occasion." Stef said.

_"Everything's going to be fine," Lena assured. "I can't wait to meet him."_

"Yeah, I can't wait for our family to meet him." Stef said about to prepare a huge feast for her family.

* * *

7 o'clock rolled around and the sound of the doorbell made the entire Adams Foster household go silent. Stef went to the door with Lena as all the kids were in the living room. Stef opened the door to a nervous looking man on the other side of the door holding a bottle of Chardonnay.

"Hey," Stef said, "come on in."

Ben walked into the house and said, "I know you said not to bring anything, but uh, I figured a bottle of Chardonnay would be okay."

"Thank you, Ben," Stef said taking the bottle and then saying, "This is my wife, Lena. My love this is Ben."

Ben nervously stuck his hand out, "It's nice to meet you," he said.

"It's _really_ nice to meet you as well," Lena said shaking his hand. "If you come in we'll introduce our kids to you."

"Uh yeah," Ben said, following the couple into the living room where all of the kids stood in age order to meet their uncle.

"So from oldest to youngest, we have Brandon," she said gesturing to the young man, who stuck his hand out for Ben to shake. "Callie," who gave him a small nod and shook his hand. "Jesus," who shook his hand, "Mariana," who shook his hand. "And our youngest Jude," Stef concluded as the youngest child and the man shook hands.

"It's uh nice to meet you guys." Ben said.

"You too," he got simultaneously from the five children.

"So uh, we can come into the dining room, dinner is ready." Stef said leading the way.

"Uh yeah," Ben said, "sounds good."

As everybody sat down, it was obvious that both Stef and Ben was getting more and more nervous. The kids stared skeptically at the man. And Lena was trying to break the ice as dinner started.

From one end of the table Lena asked, "So Ben, how long have you lived in San Diego?" She asked.

The man was cutting a piece of his steak off, "Uh, I lived here part-time since I was about four and a half, but I came out here full time for school and I love it here so my buddy Raider and I started a business downtown."

"Four and a half?" Stef asked incredulously from the other end of the table right next to the man. "That was nineteen years ago."

"Uhh yeah," Ben said, "Dad was good at hiding things. Especially in situations that he's not exactly proud of." He added with a shrug.

Stef looked over at Lena realizing that the police officer probably made the man feel uncomfortable in some way.

"Well, I'm sure your parents appreciate that you didn't follow in your Dad and sister's footsteps in becoming a police officer. Makes her sleep a little better at night."

"Uh yeah," he said. "Both my moms do."

"What do they do?" Stef asked.

"My mom is a doctor, a medical oncologist and my mama is a lawyer, a civil rights attorney." He answered with somewhat of a proud smile on his face thinking about the two women that he has the honor of calling _mom._

"Wow," the kids manage to look up from their dinner long enough to look at the man.

"Do you have any siblings?" Mariana asked curiously from next to him.

"Uh yeah, I have a 17 year old brother and a 10 year old sister. Both adopted out of the foster care system." He answered. "Uh what about you Lena?" He asked trying to get the light off of him, "I know what Stef does, but what about you?"

"I'm just an educator," Lena answered receiving weird looks from her wife and kids. "What?" She asked incredulously.

"You're not _just_ an educator, Mama," Callie answered for her mom and siblings.

"Yeah," Jesus piped in, "try the _best_ educator that Anchor Beach has."

"Anchor Beach?" Ben asked. "As in Anchor Beach Community Charter School?"

"Yeah," Stef said, "Lena's the principal over there," she added looking fondly over at her wife. "You heard of it?"

"Uh yeah," Ben said. "Our Editor-in-Chief at _The Opinionated Buzz_ has her children going there."

"Really?" Lena asked, "Who is she?"

"Taylor Bradshaw," he said, "She has two high schoolers and a middler schooler there. I think their names are Aiden, Emily, and Hannah?" He said looking off into space trying to remember.

"Oh yes," Lena said. "Aiden is actually Brandon's best friend and Callie's boyfriend." She added gesturing to the older twins.

"Small world," Ben said with a smile as he took a sip of the water in front of him.

After a few minutes of people eating, "What made you want to start _The Opinionated Buzz_?" Mariana asked putting the light back on the man.

Ben chuckled nervously, "Just a guys night that turned into a brainstorming night right before we finished our master's program."

"You finished your master's program at 21?" Callie asked knowing that the site had been up and running for two years.

He nodded, "I graduated from high school at 15," he said. "Had my bachelor's degree by the age of 19 and master's degree at 21."

Stef looked over at her brother, almost in disbelief, "You graduated high school at 15?" She asked incredulously.

Ben chuckled, "Yeah, Dad couldn't believe it when I graduated that early too." He said.

"Did you always want to do what you do now?" Jude asked from next to Lena.

"Yeah, I mean, I do all the programming work for the website and make all the executive decisions with my business partners, but I wouldn't trade my job or how I got here for the world."

"You enjoy it?" Brandon asked from the other side of Lena.

"It makes the long hours worth it," Ben answered.

"Long hours?" Stef asked, slightly raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he said. "Some days, I don't even go home. I'm good at working through the night and sometimes I lose track of time."

"I'm sure your roommates must worry," Lena said, thinking he lived in an apartment downtown.

"Uh, I actually don't have roommates." He said. "All my business partners and editorial board is married, some even with kids."

"Oh," Lena said, "so where do you live? If you don't mind me asking."

"My moms own a beach house in Ocean Beach, so I live there." He said. "The sound of the ocean calms me down after a rough day."

"One of the reasons why I originally took the job at Anchor Beach was because of the ocean," Lena said.

"Yeah, it's why I love living along it. That and I don't have to drive for my surf sessions." He said through a chuckle.

As silence filled the room again, the family finished their dinner, and then Jesus broke the silence, "Alright, I speak for the kids in this room right now when I ask, what are we supposed to call you?"

The moms and other kids chuckled and when Ben looked up from his plate and said, "I don't expect you to call me Uncle Ben, but if you want, that's cool too."

Stef and Lena shared a loving look across the table with a soft smile and a conversation with their eyes. Yeah, Ben would be the greatest influence on their teenagers.

* * *

Stef and Ben were sitting out of the front porch swing drinking a glass of the wine he brought. The kids and Lena had retired to bed about an hour before. They had talked about the insignificant things and were getting into the deeper conversation.

"How'd you know I was Dad's daughter when I came into your office today?" Stef asked him.

Ben looked down at his half full glass of wine and said, "Because I was at the funeral and some of the wake."

"You were?" She asked.

He nodded, "But, I had to leave earlier because a problem arose at work and I felt a little awkward being in your home when you didn't know that I was your brother."

"Would you have told me?" Stef asked.

Ben shook his head, "I was content knowing that you were happy with a beautiful family," he said. "I didn't want to cause any drama by telling you."

"How are you doing?" Stef asked, "With Dad's death?"

"I have my good days and bad days." He answered. "Getting that call wasn't easy."

"Which one of the kids called you?" Stef asked knowing that she had her kids call everybody in his address book.

"Uhh, I'm horrible with names," he said, "but it was one of your girls."

"Callie is the older one," Stef reminded gently.

"Okay, so it was the younger one," he said.

"Mariana," Stef answered. Ben nodded feeling bad that he couldn't remember his nieces or nephews names. "It's okay," Stef added, "you have to remember seven names and we just have to remember one. It's got to be a little challenging."

He nodded, "Yeah," he said. "How'd you find out about me?" He asked looking into his older sister's eyes.

"Dad wrote me a letter," she said. "I found it while I was cleaning out his house."

"Oh," Ben said. "Is the house completely cleaned out?" He asked.

"No, it's been a slow process because I'm sure he wouldn't be too happy if Lena helped with it and the kids always seem to be busy when I go over. Why?"

"He was my dad too," he said. "Maybe it's something we could do together. We both have a good share of memories in that house."

"Really?" Stef asked. "You'd really help me?"

Ben nodded, "Maybe you and I can start bonding through it." He suggested.

Stef's face lit up, "Of course, yeah. I mean whenever you're available." She said. "This weekend?" She suggested.

"Uhh my moms and siblings will be in town, but I can work something out." He said.

"If you want to spend time with them," she said, "that's understandable."

"My birthday is Saturday," he said. "They're making a huge ass deal out of nothing."

"Celebrating your birth isn't a huge ass deal," Stef said.

"23 is just a number." He challenged. "Damn, your worse than Dad when it comes to this."

"What can I say?" Stef said, "It's in the Elkin family genes."

Ben chuckled, "They want to meet you." He said. "My moms and siblings. They were so happy when you reached out. My moms called after you left."

"Wouldn't that be awkward?" Stef asked.

"They told me to invite you, Lena, and the kids to my place for dinner on Saturday." He said. "They don't believe in awkward situations. Sometimes that in itself is really awkward." He chuckled.

"Okay, I'll make sure it's okay with Lena and clear the kids' schedules and I'll get back to you." She said.

"Sounds good." He said.

* * *

It was well after three in the morning by the time Stef made it upstairs and into bed, spooning Lena from behind.

"About time you joined me," Lena sleepily mumbled.

"Sorry," Stef said, "we just got to talking."

"That's good," Lena said turning in her wife's arms. "He seems really nice."

"He is," Stef said. "I really like him."

Lena buried her face in the crook of Stef's neck, "I think it'll be good for you, y'know?"

"What's that?" Stef asked, gently kissing the top of Lena's head.

"Having him around," Lena said.

"Why do you think that?" Stef asked, gently rubbing Lena's back.

"He understands what you're feeling with your dad because he's feeling it too." Lena said.

Stef nodded understandingly, "He invited us and the kids to his birthday celebration with his moms and siblings on Saturday."

"Oh?" Lena said. "This Saturday?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Stef asked worriedly.

"You just are going to have to steal Brandon and Callie away from Mike for an evening." Lena said. "It's his weekend with them."

"Oh right," she said, running her fingers through Lena's curls, "I'll talk to him about it tomorrow. What about the other kids?"

"We can make them available," Lena said, tangling her legs with Stef.

"Sounds good," Stef said through a yawn, quickly fading.

* * *

**A/N 2: **I got on a roll and didn't stop. Hope you enjoyed that.


	3. The Road To Family

**A/N:** Thank you for your support!

* * *

**Chapter Three: The Road To Family**

Stef and Ben had hit it off pretty well, they had lunch two times after the dinner and kept in contact the entire week. So by the time Saturday rolled around neither one of them were really nervous. Although, both of them were a little nervous in the Adams Foster family meeting Ben's moms and siblings. Ben was running around the beach house cleaning up on a Saturday afternoon. His moms and siblings were staying in a hotel down the road and the house was pretty cluttered from his lack of picking things up. He and Stef had spent the morning finishing cleaning out Frank's house and went their separate ways. As he finished picking up, he heard the door open.

"Hello birthday boy," his mom's voice called through the house.

"Hey Mom, Mama, Leo, and Leah." Ben said as he was wiping down the counter.

The four walked into the kitchen seeing the man in a frantic state. His moms looked at him with an amused smile.

"Honey," his mom said. "What's gotten into you? I thought you already met Stef and her family."

"I have," he said. "They just haven't been over here yet and I don't want it to look like I live in a bachelor pad."

"Bro," Leo said, "I hate to break it to you, but you're a bachelor and this is your pad."

The moms laughed along with their youngest son and seeing their oldest a little amused, "I know, but they live in Mission Bay and when I was over there on Monday night, I've never seen a house full of teenagers and two working parents so, well, _clean._"

"How bad was it before we got here?" His mama asked.

"Pretty bad," he said. "I've been so busy with work that I haven't really had time to pick up stuff and fold laundry."

"S'okay big brother," Leah said coming to hug him. "Happy birthday."

"Hey munchkin." Ben said hugging the girl in return. "Thanks."

"So when are they going to be here?" His mom asked smiling at him still hugging his sister.

"I told Stef 6:00." He said. "So probably 5:45," he said, knowing that his sister was always 15 minutes ahead of schedule. "So," he added looking at his watch, "any minute now."

"What's she like?" His mama asked. "Everything your dad said she was like?"

"Let's just put it this way," he said grabbing a bottle of wine from the mini cellar under the counter, "she's a completely white, female version of me."

His mom chuckled, "Oh god," she said.

"What?" Ben asked his mom opening the fridge to open a beer.

"Honey," his mom said, "you put up the tough exterior to the world, but to us you are the softest human being ever. Now that I think about it, your father was like that too."

"Well it must run in the Elkin side of the family, now doesn't it?" He said as the doorbell rang. "The food's in the refrigerator if you want to start cooking Mama."

"Sounds good," the lawyer said getting the food out.

Ben walked to the door with his beer in hand and opened it, "Hey," he said to his sister and her family. "Come on in guys. Where's Brandon and Callie?" He asked.

"On their way," Stef said, hugging her brother, "from their dad's."

He nodded, "Sounds good." He said leading them to the kitchen. "Can I get you guys anything to drink?" He asked entering the kitchen.

"We're good for now, thanks." Lena said.

"Sounds good," he said as his moms and siblings stood up a little straighter. "Uhh Moms, Leo, Leah, this is Stef and her wife Lena and three of five of their kids, let me see if I can get this right," he said. "Mariana?"

"Yes," the girl said.

"Jesus?" He then said pointing at the boy.

"That's me," he smiled.

"And Jude? Yes?" He asked as Jude nodded.

"Cool," he said. "Uhh Adams Foster family, these are my moms."

"Kelly," his mom said shaking Stef hand first.

"Payton," his mama said shaking Lena's hand.

"And these two goofballs are my uh younger siblings, Leo and Leah." Ben said.

"Nice to meet you," Stef said. "Our two oldest should be here any minute."

Kelly and Payton nodded, "So uh yeah," Ben said, "make yourself at home. Dinner should be ready by six thirty."

"You have a nice home," Lena mentioned.

"Thanks," Ben said. "This couldn't have happened with my moms." He softly smiled. "You should see the view I have of the Pacific, when the sun is setting," he added. "Come on. I want to show you something," he led his sister-in-law up a set of stairs into a bedroom and then out on the balcony.

Sure enough, when he opened the balcony doors, the sun was setting. It was a beautiful mixture of red and yellow and the sound of the ocean filled the balcony.

"Wow," Lena breathed. "This is beautiful."

Ben chuckled, "Yeah, it really is," he said. "After I found out my and Stef's dad died, I sat on this balcony, all night long, and the sound of the ocean brought things back into perspective."

Lena smiled at how the man was opening up to her a little, she always made sure she was non-threatening to him, "Grieving is a strange process."

He chuckled, "Yeah, it's like one moment you're fine and the next moment a mess. I usually like roller coasters, just not with my emotions."

Lena chuckled, "Yeah, you are your sister's brother," she said jokingly making the man smile.

* * *

Brandon was driving through Ocean Beach with Callie trying to find their uncle's house when Callie asked a question.

"So, how do we feel about this guy?" She asked her twin.

"What do you mean?" Brandon asked the girl.

"Like, he comes in and the other twins and Jude and Moms fall in love with him, but something about the guy seems off." Callie said. "Not in a bad way, just like, he has that feel about him."

"I think he's a man, who's been handed a rough hand of cards, and is making the most of it." Brandon answered. "I also think you're over-thinking this whole thing. If he was bad news, I don't think Moms would want us around him even if they were around."

"Handed a rough hand of cards?" Callie questioned. "Do you know something about him that I don't?"

Brandon sighed, "Think about it, his mom is gay and his dad was Grandpa Frank. You know how bad it could've gotten. Grandpa Frank all, but disowned Mom after she and Lena got together. Could you imagine some of the things that he said to Ben about her?"

"I didn't think of that," Callie said as they pulled up to the house. "I guess you're right."

"Yeah, he split his childhood between LA and here," Brandon said pulling up behind their mom's Terrain. "I think we should give him a chance before making judgements."

Callie sighed, "Okay," she said. "But that doesn't mean that I'll warm up to him immediately." She added.

Brandon chuckled, "Yeah, I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Striker," he said, tacking on her soccer position. "Just, y'know, be nice." He added. "It has to be awkward at times for both Mom and Ben. Don't add to that."

Callie nodded as they got out of the car and walked up to the door and rang the doorbell, Stef answered the door knowing that her two oldest children were standing there.

"Wow, do you live here now?" Callie quipped as Stef took a step outside and shut the door behind her.

"You guys were supposed to be here like ten minutes ago." Stef said. "What happened?"

"You know our dad," Brandon said. "He was introducing us to his new girlfriend and wouldn't let us leave until five minutes after we were supposed to."

"Yeah," Callie added, "and after merging off the 8 we hit every single red light on the way here. Sorry Mom." She said sincerely.

"Your dad has a new girlfriend," Stef asked raising an eyebrow.

"Is that all you just got out of that?" Callie asked incredulously.

"What's her name?" Stef asked, ignoring her daughter's question.

"Dani," Brandon answered knowing that they weren't going to get anywhere if they didn't answer her questions.

"Is she older? Younger? How young?" Stef got out.

"Hey Mom, like we told Dad in a seven year old way when you and Lena got together, if you want to know about his love life, ask him yourself," Callie said.

"Easy with the attitude, kid." Stef said looking at her daughter.

"So uhm, are we going to stand here all evening?" Brandon asked watching the intense stare down between his mom and sister.

"Yes," Stef said, "come on in and behave," she said pointing at Callie. "I mean it."

"Okay, okay," Callie said with her hands up in defense as they walked in seeing Lena and Ben walking downstairs from that view.

"Hey babies," Lena said to Brandon and Callie.

"Hi Mama," they both said simultaneously. "Hi Uncle Ben," Brandon said.

Ben smiled softly, "Hey guys." He said. "Everybody is in here." He led the couple and the older twins into the kitchen, "Mom, Mama, Stef and Lena's oldest kids are here."

"Brandon and Callie, yes?" Kelly asked as she turned and looked at them.

"Yes ma'am," Brandon said.

"I'm Kelly and this is my wife, Payton." The woman said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Payton said with a plate full of hamburgers.

"Likewise," Callie said politely.

* * *

An hour later, everybody was sitting around the table out on the deck facing the ocean, eating, laughing, and having a good time. Stef placed her arm around the back of Lena's chair and looked around at her family with her brother's family. Jesus and Jude were talking about some video game with Leo. Callie and Mariana were talking to Leah about something and Brandon was talking about his band with Payton while Lena was talking with Kelly about some story they saw on the news. Stef then looked at her brother who was texting somebody under the table.

"You're worse than our teenagers bro," Stef said chuckling.

"Huh, what?" Ben said coming back into focus.

"The whole texting under the table thing," Stef called him out making Kelly snap her head in his direction.

"Ben," she softly chastised.

"Sorry Ma," he said. "I'll be right back, something is blowing up at work."

"I thought we agreed no work tonight," Kelly said as he walked back inside.

"It'll be all of five minutes tops," he called back out to his mom.

Kelly sighed, "He always does this," she said to the table.

"It's alright love," Payton said. "We knew it was going to be like this even before it started."

"I know," the woman said, "I just figured he'd take his birthday off."

Leo chuckled from across the table, "Mom," he said. "It's hard enough getting him to do it for a family dinner in LA. He doesn't know how to relax."

"He's going to work himself to death if he isn't careful," Kelly said lowly.

"What do you mean?" Callie asked the woman. "He's always like this?"

"Yeah," Kelly said, "a workaholic. To its definition."

"I know he said he works long hours," Stef said, "but is it really as bad as it seems?"

"Yes," Payton said putting her arm around Kelly's shoulders. "It's an ongoing argument with these two," she said referring to Kelly and Ben.

"Maybe, I could talk to him," Stef said.

"One stressed out person to another?" Lena jokingly asked through a chuckle.

"I'm not a stressed out person," Stef defended.

"Yes you are," the Adams Foster family all said at once.

"You two really are alike, eh?" Leo asked Stef.

"I guess so," Stef said getting up and walking into the house.

When Stef walked into the house, she saw her brother pacing the kitchen, "No, no, no, I already vetoed that." He said roughly running his hands through his hair. "Because it's an awful idea and we'll lose traffic." Pause. "I'm not even sure how that's journalism anyway." Another pause. "Just no, I vetoed it in our all staff meeting yesterday." A third pause. "Okay? And how does that represent what _The Opinionated Buzz_ is all about?" A fourth pause. "Fine, if you run it and we lose traffic, I'm never going to go back on my vetoes. Got it?" He said frustratedly caving. "Alright, now if I can get back to my family birthday celebration my mom would thank you. Okay, bye."

Ben frustratedly hung up and gently through his phone on the counter, Stef stepped into the kitchen, "Wow," she said. "That seemed intense."

"I'm not sure why this generation of kids live off of worthless celebrities and their personal lives. And then journalists make it an excuse for journalism." He said shaking his head.

"You seem tense," Stef noticed. "Everything really okay? Because you have a mom out there who is worried about you."

"I'm fine," he said. "Just a little tense."

"Look," the police officer said, "I know we've known each other for less than a week and it should take awhile before we have our first brother-sister moment, but your mom feels like you're going to work yourself to death."

"I'm fine," he argued. "I'm a business owner and clearly what my partners and staff think I am, the only one with veto power." He said frustratedly before he sighed. "Sorry, I don't mean to vent to you."

Stef shrugged, "That's what older siblings are for." She said stepping into the big sister mode that she always wanted to step into. "I want you to be able to come to me," she added stepping forward pulling him into a tight hug.

The two stood like that for what seemed like forever until Ben pulled away and smiled, "Uh thanks," he said awkwardly.

Stef shrugged, "No problem, bro." She said. "And I mean it," she added sincerely.

* * *

Back outside Lena, Kelly, and Payton were talking while the kids, who had finished their dinner, were playing in the somewhat private beach along the house.

"So," Kelly said, "how'd you and Stef meet?"

Lena smiled at the memory, "She was enrolling the older twins in Anchor Beach," she said. "We kept talking and when I saw it go somewhere it shouldn't have, I ended it, because she was still married to Mike. And she said the most romantic thing I've ever heard, she said-"

"I told Mike, my dad, and all, well most of my friends, I told them that I'm gay. I even used the word lesbian. I told them that I found a woman that I couldn't live without. And that I belong with you, Lena." Stef said coming out of the house with a less tense Ben in tow.

Stef sat down next to Lena and put her arm around the woman and kissed her forehead, "Yeah, that's how we got together."

"That's really romantic," Kelly said, watching the couple gaze into each other's eyes.

"Yeah," Lena said looking over at the other couple, "how about you guys?"

Kelly looked at Payton with sad eyes as the lawyer cleared her throat, "Uh, my domestic partner had breast cancer and Kelly was her oncologist." Payton said with tears in her eyes. "A year and a half after my partner was diagnosed, she passed away."

Kelly got the hint to continue as her wife got choked up, "I like to follow up with families just to see how they're doing and we kept in contact. I helped her through the grieving and she helped me through the custody battle with Frank and helped me be true with myself. We fell in love and now here we are."

"There was a custody battle?" Stef asked surprised.

Ben chuckled, he may have been young, but he remembered all of the arguing and yelling.

"Yeah after the paternity test and how I worked long hours, he wanted 80% custody. I think he wanted to make up for failing you," she said to Stef, making Ben spit out his beer.

"How'd you and our dad meet?" Stef asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

Kelly chuckled, "A church retreat," she answered getting three confused looks from her son and his sister and sister-in-law. "I was trying to prove to myself that I wasn't gay. Clearly, that didn't work." Payton was rubbing her arm as she continued, "He was old enough to be my dad," she mentioned. "But, he made me feel special and I felt guilty when I found out that I was pregnant and I left."

"So you originally lived here?" Lena asked.

"Born and raised," she said. "Went to UCSD for med school. Took the first offer out of here. And it got me to where I am today which I wouldn't trade for anything."

"She works at the UCLA Medical Center," Payton said with pride in her voice.

"Yeah," Kelly said. "What about you ladies?" She asked the other couple. "What do you do?"

"I'm an educator at Anchor Beach Community Charter School," Lena said, "Been on the admin staff for close to fifteen years now. Been principal for three years now."

Stef smiled fondly on her wife before she said, "And, I'm a police officer for the North Park precinct." Stef said.

"Oh like your dad." Kelly said.

"Yeah, just like my dad," Stef said. "I'm sure you're happy that this one didn't follow in our footsteps."

"We sleep better at night," Payton said, "that's for sure."

"And that's why I chose journalism over what I originally was going to do." Ben said sipping his beer.

Kelly squinted her eyes at the man, "And what was that?" She asked incredulously.

"If you say law enforcement, it'll just prove to me even more than we _are_ related." Stef said.

"No, I was going to do four years of school and join the military." Ben said.

Kelly's eyes widened, "Please tell me you're just kidding." She said stiffening.

"Why would I joke about serving our country?" The man asked. "I just knew that you would freak out, so I went with a desk job."

Payton softly smiled at their son, "We appreciate that honey," she said.

"So," Stef said, "is there cake?"

"Stef," Lena softly chastised.

"What?" She said looking her wife, "It isn't a birthday party without cake."

"Agreed," Ben said tipping the beer bottle to his sister.

"You two really are alike," Payton mentioned.

The sister-brother duo shared a look, smiling at each other. It was a relationship worth building.

* * *

**A/N 2:** So I know I thanked you guys before this chapter, but you have no idea how much your support means to me! I was very hesitant when posting because I know there are a lot of Brallie fans out there and them being twins might cause an issue for them, but the idea has been playing around in my head for awhile and I can't wait to continue it with your support.

Over the next few chapters, Stef is really going to get to know Ben and Ben is really going to get to know the Adams Foster family. I really hope you stick around.


	4. The Road To Suppressed Anger

**A/N:** Thanks for sticking with me! Your support means the world! Managed to hash out two chapters today! Lucky you guys! :)

* * *

**Chapter Four: The Road To Suppressed Anger **

It had become a trend over the last month, Stef would crash Ben's office for lunch Monday through Friday and Ben would spend his weekends with the Adams Foster family. Saturday mornings would consist of Stef waking up and making coffee and waking her brother up to help her make breakfast.

"Bro," Stef whispered trying to wake him up, "Bro," she shoved his shoulder.

Ben grumbled, "Stef, it's early, please let me sleep." He mumbled turning his back to his sister.

"I have coffee ready for you," Stef said, "I even brought it to you." She added making the man open his eyes halfway and looking over his shoulder.

"Have I mentioned that you're the best sister ever," he said sitting up.

"I'll be sure to keep that comment to myself when Leah is around." She said sitting down next to him looking at him bring the cup of coffee to his lips and hum in appreciation.

"Well you're the best big sister ever," he amended, "just don't tell Lena."

Stef smiled in addition to her spending time with him, Lena did too. She liked the fact that her wife was interested in getting to know her brother just as much as she did. It warmed Stef's heart to watch the bond the curly haired woman and the half Asian man had. It warmed her heart to see the bond that they were creating and that her brother was creating with all her children. Well, almost all her children, Callie still refused to warm up to him. Stef made a mental note to talk to the girl about it later before her soccer game.

"I heard that," Lena said padding down the stairs, "and I'm offended," she mocked seriousness.

"Sorry Lena," the man said, "Stef brought me coffee in bed, the best way to get to my heart is make coffee for me and bring it to me."

"Noted," Lena said with a soft smile. "What's the plan for you two today?"

"We have to finish cleaning out Dad's house," Stef said. "We'll be done with it by the end of today."

"The realtor called me and said she'd be by first thing Monday morning to take a look around," Ben said, "So I'm taking the morning off, so you don't have to."

"Thanks Ben," Stef said.

He shrugged, "You've got seven months to feed," he said. "Eight if you include mine on the weekend. The least I could do. Besides, I can work from there if I absolutely need to."

"You're the best little brother in the world," Stef said, ruffling his hair.

Ben ducks his head, "I try." He said. As silence filled the room, Ben asked a serious question to the couple, "Hey, uh question for you two."

"What's up?" They both said simultaneously.

He took a deep breath before asking, "What's Callie's deal against me?"

The couple shared a knowing look with each other, knowing what he was talking about, but not really sure how to answer the man's question.

* * *

"Are you kidding me?" Callie yelled at Brandon, "I've said that I needed our shared car today all week."

"It's a last minute band gig," he said. "Where Someone's Little Sister is getting paid."

"I don't care," Callie said, "I have a soccer tournament where I could get a scholarship because scouts are going to be there watching the game."

"The money I make could put gas in our car," Brandon argued.

"Oh don't go there, you know betweens Moms and Dad, we'll be just fine." Callie yelled back, causing Stef and Lena to come up the stairs.

"What's going on up here?" Stef asked in her no nonsense voice.

"What do you think is going on, Mom?" Mariana asked, "They're fighting over the car _again._"

"I thought we worked out the car situation," Lena said. "Callie gets it because she has to drive to San Ysidro for her tournament."

"The band got a last minute gig," Brandon said.

"Well sorry kiddo," Stef said, "Callie has first dibs on the car since hers was planned out."

"I guess I can see if Lou or Mat can come pick me up." He mumbled going into his room getting his phone.

"So wait," Callie said, "you aren't coming to my game?"

"Sorry Striker," Brandon said from his room, "this could be big for us."

Callie sighed, "What about you?" She asked her mom.

"Of course," she said kissing the girls head. "I think your father is working though."

"I know that," Callie said. "What about you Mama?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." Lena said, "2:30, yes?" Callie nodded.

"Callie," Stef then said, "may I speak with you for a minute?" She asked as Lena turned to go back downstairs and Mariana went back into the girls' shared room.

"Uh yeah sure," Callie said following her mom into the master bedroom. "What's up?" Callie asked.

"What do you have against your uncle?" Stef cut straight to the point. "You've done nothing, but ignore him for the past month. And every time you don't, it's because he's asked you a question... about soccer."

"So, I have to conform to how you, Lena, and the rest of the kids believe and warm up to him right away?" She challenged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stef asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"You find out that you have a brother," the teenager began, "you track him down, show up at his office, fall in love with him, and then make us meet him not out of our own free will, and then what? Expect us to warm up to him immediately? Mom, I love you, but even I'm not that naïve."

"When did you stop trusting people?" Stef asked. "If Mama and I thought he was a bad influence, we wouldn't have him around."

"I trust people," Callie argued. "I just am careful who I trust."

"He's trying to level with you, babe." Stef said, caressing the girl's cheek. "You just need to level with him."

"I'll try," she managed to say, "but don't expect things to be perfect." She said walking out of the room initiating the end of the conversation.

* * *

Stef and Ben were in the process of cleaning out the garage in a relative silence when Stef finally broke it by bringing attention to the car in the middle of the garage that was covered up.

"Okay," she said uncovering it, "when did Dad get a hotrod car?"

"I beg your pardon, this is not a hotrod, it's a 1954 Thunderbird Mustang," he said. "It's a beautiful creation."

"Not too much of a difference, but okay." she said. "I clearly haven't been in here in awhile."

"Yeah," he said. "We uh restored it through all four years of my undergrad."

"Really?" Stef asked. The man hadn't really shared any memories that he had with their shared father, so the fact that he was opening up about this was beautiful in Stef's mind.

He nodded, "Yeah," he said. "We wanted something to do together so we decided to restore a car together. Some of my best memories with Dad was building this car."

"I knew he liked cars, I never knew why." Stef said.

"When we were out in this garage," Ben said, "nothing else mattered. It was me, him, sports radio, a beer for him, and rootbeer for me. We were just men doing what most men do. Every time I was here and the Padres were in LA, there'd be a debate as each inning went on. I didn't feel like an outsider in his mind."

"You felt like an outsider?" Stef asked.

"Just I felt like I always had to defend my mom and in return when he'd make a mention about you and Lena, I'd defend you two as well. I never understood why he would let his religion get in the way of loving his _only_ daughter."

"He tried in the end," Stef said. "I just couldn't see it."

"I wouldn't blame you," Ben said, "his religious ways were full of double standards anyway."

"Hey," Stef said, "why don't you take the car?" She offered, "You and Dad built it together. You should have it since you're not taking anything else."

"Really?" Ben asked looking at his sister who nodded her head, "Thanks Stef."

"Don't mention it," she said with a soft smile.

"At least let me let you drive it once," he said tossing the keys in her general direction.

"Really?" Stef's face lit up when her brother nodded in agreement. "You're my favorite little brother ever."

"Does your mom have any other kids?" He asked and she shook her head opening the driver's seat door getting in. "Then I'm your _only_ little brother," he said getting in the passenger's seat.

"Which gives you prime reason to be my favorite." She said with a wink starting the ignition.

* * *

Callie was on her A game in the tournament, but her mind still managed to wander to her uncle. He hadn't given her any reason to not trust her, but at the same time he just gave off this weird vibe. Her brothers, sister, and moms were practically infatuated with the man and she couldn't bring herself to be. Randomly out of the blue, her mom finds out that she has a paternal half brother. A man that has wanted to meet her mom since he was five years old. During the half, her coach caught her attention.

"Hey Foster," he said. "Got a minute?"

"Of course," she said. "What's up?"

"Good job bringing your A game today," he said. "The scouts are looking pretty impressed. You'll have the scholarship and first ticket out of San Diego next fall."

Callie smiled, her coach who had been her coach since the little leagues knew her all too well. He knew that she loved her family, but with all the foster children come in and out through years before the younger twins and between them and Jude, that she just wanted a break from her mom and Lena's _'we have to save the word'_ attitudes.

"Thanks Coach," she said. "Got a lot going on, so it's nice to focus on other things right now."

"I'm sorry to hear that things are crazy right now," he said. "But, I am glad that you're focusing out there. Keep up the good work kiddo. And you know Rachel and I are always here for you if you just need a ear to listen and confide in."

"I know Coach Kenney," she said. "Thank you."

He smiled and walked away and she looked out into the stands to see if her family was there, when she knew the other day they'd promise to be there, to support her, she knew Brandon had a last minute gig, but she expected to see her other brothers, sister, and moms in the stands, maybe even this uncle of hers. When she saw that none of them were sitting there her heart sank. She took a swig of water and went back onto the field for the second half of the game. She shouldn't be mad because ever since Ben walked into their lives, it seems as if she's not important enough. They've missed every single game since he swooped in and stole their attention.

When did she become less important to them?

* * *

Lena was sitting at the dining room table looking over some bills when Stef and Ben came through the front door. They were laughing about something or another when Stef came and kissed Lena's cheek as she passed by to get her and Ben a beer. The three settled into a peaceful silence until they heard the door open and slam shut.

All three of them looked at the doorway to see a fuming Callie as she chucked her soccer bag into the living room and tried to calm herself down before looking over at her moms and Ben.

"Hey Slug-a-bug," Lena said, "what's wrong?"

Callie took a deep breath as she looked at the three of them and said, "Did you forget about my game?"

The moms looked wide eyed at each other, inwardly cursing themselves for being so forgetful. Lena ended up having to get Jude through a panic attack, he wasn't officially adopted into the family quite yet, but everybody in the family considered him to be and it just dawned on the boy today that there's still a chance that he wouldn't be adopted. Lena spent the entire afternoon reassuring him that she and Stef loved him unconditionally and even if it took until well after he was 18, he _would_ be an Adams Foster.

Stef on the other hand spent the entire day with Ben, they drove the mustang along the coast, laughing and making memories together. She knew that her oldest daughter, the girl who had half her DNA running inside her, would be mad. So she decided to take another approach. But, Lena being the graceful woman that she is, beat her to it.

"I'm sorry baby," she said. "Jude had an emotional breakdown today and didn't want to do anything, but lie around all day. It slipped my mind."

Callie's eyes softened, "Is he okay?" She asked. She grew fond of the boy when he came into the house. If she had to choose one sibling to protect, it would be Jude.

"He is now," Lena confirmed. "He's upstairs playing video games with Jesus."

Callie nodded, "The both of you were taking care of Jude?" She asked.

Stef took a deep breath, "Well no," she said. "Your Uncle Ben and I took a drive along the coast after we finished cleaning out Grandpa Frank's garage."

"Unbelieveable," Callie muttered under her breath as she attempted to walk out of the room.

"Callie baby," Stef said, "please don't walk away. Let's talk about this."

Callie spun around, "Talk about what?" She yelled. "Talk about how this game was really important to me and all the other seniors on the team and my own family wasn't there to see it?" Stef tried to stop the girl from yelling, but Lena put her hand on the blonde's arm, silently telling her to let Callie get it all out. "I get why Mama wasn't there," she said, "I'm not sure what it will take to make Jude's demons to go away, he's had a rough hand handed to him. But you," she said pointing at Stef, "you were _always_ at my games. And what your paternal half brother comes into the situation and your kids get the back seat?" She said frustratedly.

"You know that's not true, Callie," Stef said.

"Really?" Callie challenged. "When's the last time you've been to a soccer game of mine?" Stef thought about it and maybe for too long because then Callie said, "Jesus' wrestling match? Mariana's dance competition? A gig of Brandon's? You're lucky that Jude hasn't started baseball yet. You're lucky that he still needs Mama to help him fight his demons."

"Callie, enough," Stef said.

"Why? Because the truth hurts? You're so infatuated with this brother of yours that you seem to forget the important stuff around here."

"You're being disrespectful to your uncle," she said noticing that Ben looked a little hurt and out of place.

"My what?" She said not willing to believe it. "Dad's brother is more of an uncle to me and Brandon then this fool is." She said getting more mad.

Ben cleared his throat and excused himself to the kitchen, "Do you have to make him feel anymore uncomfortable?" Stef asked. "Do you think this is easy on him?" Callie tried to speak, but Stef stopped her, "No, don't speak." Stef said. "I'm sorry that I've missed some of your games. But that doesn't give you the right to make your _uncle_ feel uncomfortable. That doesn't give you the right to make anybody feel uncomfortable. Got it?" She said.

The mother-daughter pair were in an intense stare down and Lena broke it, "Callie honey," she said. "Why don't you go take a shower, cool off, and we'll readdress this later, okay?" Callie looked over at Lena and softened her face and nodded her head leaving the room. "She does have somewhat of a point, you know."

"What do you mean?" Stef asked.

"Ever since Ben came into the picture a month ago, you've been focused on him." Lena said, "And that's not a bad thing. It's just _your_ baby girl isn't going to be here in the fall and if we don't play this game right, she won't be on the west coast anymore."

Stef put her head in her hands trying to hold herself together realizing that her wife was right, but also realizing she had to go talk with her brother who was probably very hurt right now.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Stef found her brother sitting on the steps of the back porch slowly drinking a beer. She sat down next to him, looking at the sunset that he was watching.

"Beautiful, huh?" Stef said looking from the sunset to her brother. He nodded, clearly shutting down. "Ben," she said.

"She's right," he managed.

"She maybe right, but she had no right to call you a fool." Stef defended.

"Do you think this is the first time somebody's called me a name, Stef?" Ben asked. "Come on, I was raised by a gay woman and a religious man. I had other, _worse_ names that labeled me. It just never came from family."

"She shouldn't have said that," Stef reiterated.

"She was just expressing how she really feels," he defended the girl. "Maybe I shouldn't hang around here anymore."

Stef's head snapped from the sunset to her brother, "No," she said immediately. "We aren't giving her the upper hand in this."

"Stef," he said, "I'm not going to put you between your family, who _needs_ you and your paternal half brother who just wasting your time."

"You are _not_ wasting my time Ben," she said wrapping her arm around the man, pulling her into her side.

"If you can't manage to go to your kids' extracurriculars-" he started.

"No, none of that," Stef said, kissing the top of his head, "I'll work this out, but you are not going _anywhere._" He nodded knowing that no matter what he would say right in that moment, she would shoot him down.

He had his own demons to work through and maybe his older sister and her family could help him through it.

* * *

**A/N 2:** So I know it's probably early in the story for Callie to be getting mad, but I'm setting this blow up for the next couple of chapters while we are getting to know Ben and this AU Adams Foster family.

Flashbacks are a coming!


	5. The Road To The Future

**A/N:** Thank you for sticking around it means the world to me!

I'm sorry I meant to get this up yesterday, but I'm two classes away from film school and this one class took away my time. Stupid Pre-Algebra...

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Five: The Road To The Future**

Callie laid her head pretty low in the following week of blowing up at Stef. It didn't go unnoticed by either one of the moms. They figured they'd let it draw out a couple of days. But as the week went on, Callie still said nothing, did as she was asked, did homework, eat with the family silently, and slept a lot more than she usually does during soccer season. By Friday, both Stef and Lena were pretty worried about the girl.

Ben also laid his head pretty low. He and Stef still did lunch together, but when Friday rolled around, he made some excuse of having to work that weekend so he probably wouldn't be able to hang out with the Adams Foster family that weekend.

When Stef woke up on that Saturday spooning Lena from behind. She placed a gentle kiss on the darker woman's shoulder and whispered, "Good morning beautiful," making Lena blush and whisper her good morning back.

"What are you going to do today since Ben's working?" Lena asked turning in her lover's arms to make better eye contact.

"I don't know," she said. "Callie has a game today doesn't she?"

"I think so," Lena said, brushing Stef's hair out of her face, "Playing a little clean up with your daughter?" Lena joked with a wink. But, when Stef didn't joke back with her, she knew the answer, "Honey..."

"She was right, Lena." Stef said with a sigh. "She didn't tell it in a proper way, but she was right."

"All the other kids understand," Lena assured. "Especially the younger twins and Jude."

"But," Stef sighed frustratedly. "I don't want any of our kids to feel like they aren't important to me."

"Our kids are some of the most understanding people I know," Lena said. "Callie is just trying to figure everything out. Y'know? She's graduating in two months and from what we know, no school has picked her up yet on a scholarship. She's stressing out about her future and then to add to it, she has this uncle that comes in and swoops her mom's attention away when she needs it the most."

Stef sighed and buried her face into Lena's shoulder, "We should've eased Ben into their lives."

"_We_?" Lena asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Come on, Lena," Stef said looking into dark brown eyes, "you know once I met him, there was no way you'd want to wait to meet him."

Lena chuckled and leaned forward to kiss her wife, "I do know this." She said. "I also know that it's 6:30am on a Saturday morning and the kids are still asleep," she said suggestively.

"Yeah?" Stef said suggestively back kissing her deeply.

* * *

Meal time was always chaotic in the Adams Foster household, this particular Saturday morning was no different. Food being passed around, the younger twins bickering, Jude trying to stay out of the way, Brandon trying to dodge Jesus' ketchup, and Callie being extremely quiet.

"So Callie," Stef said, "do you have a game today?"

The teenager nodded, "Yeah, it's a home game." She answered softly.

"Well, I don't know about Mama, but your dad and I will be there." Stef said.

"Uhh, you don't have to," Callie said finishing her breakfast and starting her protein shake, "I understand if you can't."

"Oh baby girl," Stef said looking softly at her oldest daughter.

"I, uh, gotta go." She said taking her protein drink and grabbed her keys.

"Wait baby," Stef said following after her daughter, "what time does the game start?"

"Uhh, 11:30," she answered. "Like I said, if you can't come-"

"Callie," Stef said, "can you talk to me?"

"Mom, I can't right now." Callie said. "I know what I said to Ben last weekend was uncalled for, but right now, I can't deal with that."

"I love you," Stef said kissing the girl's forehead.

"I know," Callie said as she walked out of the house.

Stef sighed and looked at the closed door, Lena came from behind her and wrapped the police officer in her embrace.

"Give her time babe," Lena whispered in Stef's ear, gently kissing it. "Remember when you first introduced me to the older twins as your girlfriend and Brandon warmed up to me immediately where it took Callie close to six months to finally do so?"

"Oh god," Stef said remembering the moment.

_Flashback._

Stef and Lena had been dating for a couple of months now and Stef was ready to introduce Lena to Brandon and Callie. She had sat them down and explained how Mommy was in love with another woman and how that other woman also was their assistant vice principal.

Lena knocked on the door of the small three bedroom house and Stef answered it. From the look of her still in her uniform and the frustrated look on her face, she could tell she had a rough afternoon. Lena, who never had seen Stef in her uniform before, took in the appearance.

"Y'know, I may not be fond of your choice of work," Lena said taking Stef's hands in hers, "But what woman isn't attracted to somebody in uniform?"

Stef sighed, "I was trying to change, but between Brandon and Callie, it was a little more difficult." She said.

"It's fine babe," Lena said leaning forward to kiss her girlfriend, "Introduce me to the kids and then go change. And maybe when you put the kids down, I can massage these tense shoulders of yours."

"Yeah?" Stef said looking lovingly into the woman's eyes.

Lena nodded, "Yeah," she said with a smile. "But, I got to meet these kids first. I've seen them play on the playground, but I haven't actually met them yet."

Stef grabbed her girlfriend's hand and led her into the living room and called for her kids, "B, Callie, could you come down here please?"

"Coming Mommy," two voices were heard and two sets of feet were heard running down the hall.

Two five year old kids came bouncing out, Brandon continued to bounce even when he saw Lena while Callie slowed down her bounce to a slow stride when she saw the curly haired woman.

"Alright babies," Stef said. "This is Lena," Stef said.

"I thought she was Assistant Vice Principal Adams?" Callie said cautiously.

"Around here you can call me Lena," the curly haired woman said.

"Okay," Callie said taking a seat in Stef's lap.

Stef kissed the top of Callie's head, "I'm going to go change out of my uniform, okay baby girl?" She said after a few minutes. "You stay here with B and Lena."

Callie nodded her head and looked back to her brother and her mom's girlfriend. Brandon was going off about how much he loved Anchor Beach and how his teacher took him and his class out onto the beach earlier that day.

Brandon and Callie had different kindergarten teachers in a way to sort of help the two grow into individuals upon the enrollment of the two young Foster twins, Lena had made a mention to Stef how that'd be a good idea.

"That's sounds really cool Brandon," Lena said after he went into a story how he and his friend Aiden made a sandcastle. "Did you do anything fun today Callie?" The young girl shook her head. "Your class didn't go to the beach today?" She shook her head again.

A few minutes later, Stef came back into the room, "Mommy," Brandon said, "I'm hungry."

"Pizza's on the way my love." She said sitting next to Lena as Callie climbed in her mother's lap. "Hi baby girl." She said as Callie buried herself into Stef's lap.

"Is she always this shy?" Lena asked, whispering.

"Not usually," Stef answered, "she may just need time to warm up to you. You're new."

Lena nodded, "I just want them to feel comfortable around me," she whispered back.

Stef wrapped a loving arm around Lena, softly kissing her temple, "They will."

_End Flashback._

"It took Callie six months to warm up to me," Lena reminded her wife taking her out of the memory, "and that's only because she broke her arm during soccer practice and I was the only one there to take her to the ER."

"I hope it doesn't take broken bones to get her to like Ben." Stef said. "I know he ditched us this weekend because of what Callie said."

"This is new to him too," Lena reminded placing her chin on Stef's shoulder. "And probably awkward. Give him time, babe."

"I'm lucky you choose _me_ every single day," Stef said sincerely.

"I'd like to think of it the other way around," Lena said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Stef said kissing her wife softly.

* * *

Stef was sitting between Lena and Mike at Callie's soccer game when her phone buzzed with a text message. She was surprised to see Ben's name pop up on her screen.

_**Ben:** Just got a call from the realtor, Dad's house is in escrow._

"A text message really?" Stef mumbled. "You couldn't have called?" She asked herself.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Lena asked grabbing Stef's free hand.

"Oh uh Ben just text me saying that our dad's house is in escrow." She answered her wife.

"Who is this Ben guy?" Mike asked. "B has mentioned him a little, but I never asked who he was."

"My dad had another kid with another woman and we just recently found out about him." Stef answered.

"So you just bring him into your lives without running it passed me first?" Mike asked.

"I didn't think I needed to," Stef said, "Considering you brought Dani into their lives without running it passed me," she added raising an eyebrow.

Mike grumbled in his seat looking back to the game as Callie kicked the ball into the goal. As the entire Anchor Beach fan base cheered Lena casually changing the subject by saying, "There are scouts here."

"What?" Both Stef and Mike whipped their head at Lena. "How do you know?"

"Look," she said pointing down farther into the stands to people with clipboards, feverishly taking notes, "and even if I didn't look down there, I knew. Coach Kenney came into my office yesterday to tell me that Callie has a good chance in getting scouted today for a full ride scholarship."

Stef and Mike looked at each other, they already knew Brandon and Someone's Little Sister was going to be getting into the studio in the beginning of summer, with Lou's connections and start touring, but they knew that Callie wanted to go to school and get a degree and that costs money. They had agreed upon the divorce that they would split college tuition and textbooks down the line if they needed to. But if Callie gets a scholarship today, they would be happy and proud.

She then text her brother back wishing she could share this moment with him as well.

_**Stef:** Good to hear! Miss you though. Wish you were here with us cheering Callie on._

* * *

After the game, Stef, Lena, and Mike along with all the other kids were waiting around for Callie. Anchor Beach had won the game and Callie made the game-winning goal. Stef saw that Callie was standing with her coach and one of the college scouts talking. She just couldn't understand about what and where the scout was from.

Coach Kenney gestured for the three parents to come on over and as they did they heard the coach say, "Look we know Penn State is number eight in the NCAA when it comes to women's soccer, but we really hope you consider us."

Both Stef and Mike's eyes went wide while Lena tried to hide her surprise as the coach said, "Uh, Ricky this is her parents, Mike, Stef, and Lena." He said introducing the trio. "Lena is our principal here at Anchor Beach too."

"Oh wow," the man said, "it's a pleasure." He said to the three adults. "Your daughter's soccer footage was sent to me. I, myself, am an alum here at Anchor Beach."

"Ricky Todd, yes?" Lena asked. "Class of," she thought about it for a moment, "2000?"

"That's me," he said, "glad to see you're still impacting students lives here, Principal Adams."

"It's actually Principal Adams Foster," she said grabbing Stef's arm lovingly. "But you can call me Lena now." She offered a warm smile to the man.

"Alright," he said, "anyway I was telling your daughter here that Penn State is seriously interested in her. We know you as parents will have concerns as it's on the east coast, but if she does choose us, we promise to take care of her."

"Full ride?" Mike asked for him and his ex wife.

Ricky nodded, "Full ride," he repeated.

Callie looked over at her mother, who had a worried look on her face and a lip between her teeth, "Mom," she said. "It's either this or community college and it'll take me longer to get to the pros that way."

Stef looked between her wife and ex husband, who both nodded their heads, and then she looked over at Ricky, "You promise to take care of our baby girl?"

Ricky nodded again, "We do promise to do anything to protect her. We at Penn State, especially in the athletic program, treat each other like family."

Stef looked over at Callie, "We're flying you home for every major holiday, including Thanksgiving and every summer. Got it?"

"Wouldn't expect anything different," Callie said.

Stef sniffed a little turning to Ricky, "Do we need to sign anywhere?" She asked watching her daughter's face light up.

"If you all could follow me." Ricky said.

* * *

"Penn State?" Brandon all, but yelled when they got home. "Are you kidding me?"

"Brandon," Callie tried.

"I know they've been preparing this all along," he said, "putting us in the same classes at different times. We've never shared a teacher since starting school, but now you're going to be on a different coast now."

"This is my chance to shine, B." Callie said.

"UCLA is number one in NCAA for women's soccer," he argued, "and you couldn't have chosen them?"

"They didn't offer me a full ride scholarship." She said.

"What about everything we planned?" Brandon said. "Remember? The day I realized that Mom and Dad were never getting back together."

Callie swallowed and nodded, it was the day before their ninth birthday, two weeks before Stef and Lena were going to officially adopt the younger twins.

_Flashback._

Brandon and Callie were lying in the backyard looking up at the stars after dinner. Callie could tell something was bothering Brandon.

"Hey Callie?" He finally said.

"Yeah, Brandon?" She said.

"Mom and Dad, they aren't-they aren't getting back together are they?"

Callie sighed and reached out for his hand, "No, they aren't." She said. "Lena's been in our lives for four years now."

"I just wish it would've hit me sooner," Brandon said tears filling his eyes.

Callie looked over at her brother, "Hey," she said, "it's okay."

"We'll never be a family of four again," he said. "You, me, Mom, and Dad. As much as I love Lena and Jesus and Mariana, I miss it."

Callie nodded, "I do too." She admitted. "But, Mom loves Lena now and Lena's a good mama, don't you agree?"

Brandon nodded, "I do agree, I like her cuddles." He said.

"Yeah, me too." Callie said. The two fell into a peaceful silence for a moment, "Have you ever thought about going to the moon?" Callie asked randomly.

"Yeah," Brandon said, "sometimes I imagine myself going there just to get away from it all."

"When we get older, we should do something like that together." Callie said.

Brandon sat up a little and looked at his twin, "Go to the moon?" He asked confused.

"Yeah, maybe not that, but like jump out of an airplane, hike a mountain, do something spontaneous." She said.

"We should do that after high school before college," Brandon said thinking into the future.

"Yeah, let's do it." Callie said.

_End Flashback._

"We can still do all of that stuff," Callie said trying to reassure her twin.

"We can't," Brandon yelled, at the moment glad that the rest of the family went to go pick up a pizza, and they were alone. "Did it occur to you that we graduate in mid-June and from what I hear you're headed out for athletic move-in and soccer conditioning in early to mid-July?" He said. "We don't turn 18 until the end of July, we can't do that with out Mom, Dad, or Lena chaperoning us."

"You act like I'm moving to Penn State and am going to die there," Callie said looking at her twin. "Mom and Dad are flying me back for every holiday and every summer."

"Well the way you've been acting ever since Uncle Ben came into the picture makes me believe that you aren't too fond of that idea." Brandon argued.

"Uncle what? Brandon," Callie said. "I thought we agreed that we were going to wait awhile before we let him in fully."

"He's our uncle whether or not, you like that." Brandon said.

"He's our _half_ uncle." Callie clarified.

"Half- really Callie?" Brandon said, "When Mama gets home do you want me to have her go into her lecture about how DNA _doesn't _make a family, _love_ does."

"I have my right to be skeptical about a man that has only been in our lives for all of 2.5 seconds. A man that we don't know if he's just going to build up this relationship with Mom and just leave her and everybody else in this family high and dry." Callie defended herself.

"Uncle Ben isn't that kind of guy," Brandon said, "if you would spend more than every two seconds judging him because he just came into our lives, maybe you'd get to know him. What's gotten into you Callie? Even Aiden has been saying that you've been acting weird. This _isn't_ about Uncle Ben."

"Would you stop calling him that?" Callie asked.

"No," he said, "because it doesn't change the fact that, that's who he is. _Our_ uncle. But, don't change the subject," he said, "what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing okay," she said, "just leave it alone." She added while walking out of the room.

Rarely ever did these two twins argue because after the divorce of Mike and Stef they silently vowed to always have each other's backs, but when they argued, there came a tension in the house that nobody could avoid.

* * *

**A/N 2:** I wanted this chapter to be a little Callie-centric, so I'm sorry for the lack thereof appearances of Ben. The next chapter is Ben-Stef-and even a little Lena-centric. Then it'll be everyone as a whole. Hope you guys liked it.

What do you think is going on with Callie? Why do you think she really isn't warming up to Ben?

And how'd you like those flashbacks? I know they were short and probably a little lame, but I'm curious to see what you all think.

What would you like to see more of?

Let me know! Always up for some suggestions! :)


	6. The Road To Inner Demons

**A/N:** Thank you for the continued support! Seriously. I appreciate all of you.

**Trigger warning: **Talk about statutory rape is in here. I apologize in advance if it triggers you.

* * *

**Chapter Six: The Road To Inner Demons**

Ben felt a little bad for blowing off his sister over the weekend, but he just needed his space. He did work all weekend and when Monday early afternoon rolled around, Stef came back into his office for lunch.

"Hey kiddo," Stef said while walking in with lunch as she watched Ben type away on his computer.

"Hey Stef," he said glancing up at his sister, "what did Lena send you with this time?"

"A pasta dish and her heartfelt I miss you," she said taking his tupperware out of the lunch cooler.

"You can bring her with you to these lunches, y'know." He said opening the tupperware.

"She feels like this is our time to well, bond." Stef said. "We all missed you this weekend."

Ben took a bite of the pasta and looked back at his sister with an eyebrow raised, "Even Callie?" He asked curiously.

"Okay, the rest of the kids, Lena, and I missed you." Stef said with a sigh as she watched her brother's eyes travel back to the iMac in front of him, "Nuh uh," she said looking at him, "you know the rules, no working during our lunch."

"Sorry," he said. "Something just popped up on my screen."

"You have an desktop and a Macbook in front of you. Why do you need two computers?"

"It's easier to follow news that way," he said. "And it's easier to program stuff that way too."

"Did you get a degree in journalism or programing?" Stef asked.

"Journalism, but taught myself how to program for the sake of this company." He said.

"Wow," she said taking a bite of her lunch, "invested."

Ben chuckled, "You could say that." He said. "How was your weekend?" He asked handing his sister a Coke out of his mini fridge.

"Good," she said. "Callie got a scholarship to Penn State."

"Wow, really?" He asked, "That's cool. How are you and your ex taking it?"

"What do you mean?" Stef asked.

"Come on your baby girl? His _only_ daughter?" Ben said, "When I left for SDSU when I was 15, my mom freaked out a little. Luckily, Dad was always close by, but that didn't stop her from worrying."

Stef chuckled, "I'm worried, but I know my baby girl will be just fine. She's a fighter."

"She seems like it," he said. "From what she lets me see."

"I don't know what's going on with her," Stef said. "And I wish I did," she added.

"I don't expect everybody I meet to like me Stef," he said. "But, it doesn't mean that I wish that Callie did. She seems like a cool kid."

"She _is,_" Stef agreed with her brother, "not sure what's going on with that girl."

"I told you if I need to step away, I will." He said eating his lunch.

"And _I_ told you that wasn't necessary." Stef said. "But, seems that _somebody_, doesn't listen to his supposed favorite big sister." She chastised teasingly.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked confused.

"You ditched us the week end for work," she said putting air quotation marks around work.

"I did work," he said.

"You could've worked from our house." Stef said. "In front of the Padres handing it back to the Dodgers," she added with a wink.

"I wouldn't have been able to concentrate," he said. "Besides, Callie probably wouldn't have wanted me to celebrate her getting a scholarship with you guys."

"How'd you know we celebrated?" Stef asked with a raising eyebrow.

"You're the same family that invited me over to celebrate Jude getting an A on his math test." He said. "I think it's sweet that you both celebrate small and big accomplishments. I wish my mom and our dad had."

"They didn't?" Stef asked.

"No, my mom used to, but then they adopted Leo and by the time he got to us, he was so broke, that they spent up until Leah was placed with us having to reassure him that he was worth a hell of a lot more than any other foster parent told him. They cycle then came back around with Leah two years ago. Neither one of them felt special until they were officially a Wright-Carlson. And they both still have their moments where they just don't feel like they belong."

"Is that why you wanted to get out of LA part-time?" Stef asked.

"Kind of," he said. "But mainly because I wanted to get closer to Dad."

Stef nodded, "Did you?" She asked, "Get closer to Dad?"

He shook his head, "It was kind of hard to," he said. "He wanted me to go into law enforcement and despite me wanting to spend four years in college and then enlisting in the military, I can't see myself being a cop."

"Everybody has their calling," Stef said.

"I miss him," Ben said. "Dad." He clarified.

Stef nodded her head in agreement, "I miss him too." She agreed. "Even though we never really got along, I miss having him around." She fondly smiled, "I missed having you around this weekend."

He looked up from his lunch and said, "I do have a reason, I promise." He said with tears developing in his eyes.

* * *

Ben was staring out his office window later that afternoon when he heard a knock on the door.

"Mr. Carlson," his assistant Sarah pulled him out of his gaze.

"Every time you call me that I look over my shoulder to see if my grandpa or uncle is here." He said, "Please call me Ben."

"Sorry, Ben?" She amended.

"Yes?" He said sitting back in his chair.

"You have a Lena Adams Foster wanting to see you." She said.

He chuckled, "Let her in," he said as he saw the curly haired woman waiting out for him, "Lena," he said. "It's a pleasure."

"Stef said to just crash your office." Lena said sheepishly.

"You're always welcome to crash," he said. "Even with Stef." He added.

"That's your guys' time," she said. "I wouldn't want to crash that."

"Well, I'm glad you're crashing now," he said offering a warm smile. "But, what do I owe for this surprise visit?"

"I just want to make sure you're okay for myself," she said. "We missed you over the weekend."

"Yeah had to really concentrate on work," he said.

"Are you sure about that?" Lena asked.

He sighed, he did purposely bail on them because of what Callie had said, the words kept running through his head, and his inner demons convinced him to stay away. And somehow he managed to convince Stef of that, but he could tell that Lena wasn't convinced.

"Of course," he said. "What makes you think I didn't?"

"What Callie said had to of hurt." She said. "Poured some salt on some open wounds?"

"Lena-" Ben tried.

"How do I know that?" She asked his question for him. "Because if you forgot, I was the one that helped you through a nightmare that night, remember?"

"Yeah," he said. "You probably treated me like one of your own children that night." He remembered.

Lena had gone down because she felt the need to check on him after everything he heard Callie say because he was really quiet for the rest of the night after he and Stef came in and she could see that he had some inner demons that he had yet to work through. She helped him through a post-nightmare panic attack and held him until the man fell asleep peacefully.

"Stef and I promised your moms that we'd take care of you," she said. "And when I saw you in that state my maternal instincts kicked in."

Ben chucked, "It's really fine Lena," he assured. "I appreciate it. Most of the time, I don't have people to talk me through my post-nightmare panic attacks. So if I haven't said it already, thank you."

"Whatever and whenever you need something, Stef and I will be there." Lena assured. "Although, you might want to get some professional help if this is a reoccuring thing."

Ben stood up and looked out his window, he had never told anybody about his past and he didn't really want to, but he could tell that Stef and Lena were trusting people.

"Stef and my dad had a lot of double standards in his religon," he said still looking out the window, "It wasn't right for Stef and my mom to be gay, but it was okay for him to have unwedded sex."

Lena's eyes widened not knowing where this was going, "Ben, you don't have to-" She tried before he interrupted her.

"No, it's okay," he said looking at her, "I trust you. And Stef already knows about this."

Lena smiled and nodded, "Okay," she nodded.

"One night during my undergrad, I came home, well to my San Diego home at the time," he said with a fond smile. "I was tired of overpriced, poor quality cafeteria food and I wanted some guy time and a more comfortable bed."

He swallowed as he continued, "I didn't mind that his girlfriend at the time wanted to hang out with us, I mean I get what it's like to be lonely. If I weren't so busy all the time, maybe I'd figure out what everybody is talking about when it comes to love."

Lena smiled because she knew what he was talking about. The love that she found in Stef dumbfounded her when she thought about it, but when she thought about what her brother-in-law was saying, her heart began to break, she didn't know what she was thinking was true, but if it was true, she could imagine what Stef was feeling.

"So, this woman, I think her name was like Lilliana or something or another, I don't remember because I'm horrible with names," he said rubbing her forehead. "She got pretty wasted that night with Dad and he got pretty buzzed too. That was another double standard in his faith," he said tears developing in his eyes.

He took a deep breath, collecting himself, "I went to bed pretty early that night, I had a Calculus exam early that next morning," he said. "I was sleep dreaming about Caculus," he laughed pitifully at the memory, "I was super stressed out about it. And then I woke up to this woman on top of me trying to undo my pajama pants. I tried to stop her, but when I was sixteen I wasn't the strongest of teenagers and she forced me down and-"

Tears were rolling down both Ben and Lena's face, "She uh forced me to have sex with her. And Dad who normally was one of the heaviest sleepers I know, walked in seeing my struggle and kicked her out luckily. Got her arrested and a restraining order."

He took a deep breath and looked at Lena, "It happened so fast, y'know? I had just met her all of six hours before. And I felt foolish and less of a man that I couldn't fight her off. So when Callie called me a fool, it triggered something inside me."

"I had no idea," Lena said, "Stef never told me."

"I uh just told her at lunch," he said. "So she's probably trying to process it all."

"She's probably angry too," she said, knowing her wife.

He nodded, "I didn't want to send her back to the force angry, but I had to tell her. I had to be honest with her." He said.

"Well, thank you for being honest with me. That was really brave," Lena said, "I appreciate it."

"Thank you for holding me that night," he said. "I appreciate that."

"We're always here for you, honey." She said. "And we'll talk to Callie, we won't give her full details, but we will talk to her. See what's going on in her head." He nodded, "Can I give you a hug?"

"Yeah, of course." He said as Lena hugged him.

"Everything will work out and we'll be with you every step of the way." She said into his broad chest.

* * *

That night, Stef and Lena were sitting in bed cuddling and talking.

"So I went to go see Ben today after work," Lena said, snuggling further into Stef and the police officer played with the end of one of her curls.

"Mhm?" Stef acknowledged, remembering her own visit.

"He told me, about your guys' dad's girlfriend." Lena said softly. "And what she did to him."

"Yeah, poor kid." Stef said remembering her heart break and anger. "I feel like that's not the only time that he's been handed it rough."

"We need to talk to Callie," Lena said. "Something triggered inside him when she called him a fool."

Stef sighed, "I know baby," she said. "I just don't know how to approach her now," she admitted. "How awful is that?" She asked. "I can't even approach my own daughter without the fear of being rejected or something."

"It's not awful babe," Lena assured. "She's a stressed out high school senior who just needs a little attitude check."

"This is why I'm hesitent in her going to Penn State," Stef said. "What if she needs us?"

"There's always video chat," Lena assured. "Besides we knew she wasn't going to stay in San Diego if she had the opportunity to move out."

Stef groaned, "Don't remind me," she said. "I wish should could've stayed my baby girl forever."

"It'll be good for her," Lena said, "to grow and stuff."

"Yeah," Stef said as they fell into a somewhat peaceful silence. Both thinking about Callie and then their minds drifted to Ben. "I can't believe that he had to go through that," Stef said. "At sixteen?" Stef rhetorically asked. "The younger twins are about to turn that age. I just," she shuttered. "I wish there was a way to help him."

"We can be just by being there," Lena assured. "He needs us."

"Yeah, that he does." Stef said.

* * *

Callie walked into Lena's office at lunch the next day and saw both of her moms sitting there.

"Hey baby girl," Stef greeted first. "How was your morning?"

"Uh okay, I guess," Callie said. "The usual English, math, and US history." She added. "Shouldn't you be with Ben?" She asked her mom.

"Your uncle had a board meeting during lunch today," Stef said. "So I thought I'd spend it with two out of three of my favorite girl's in the world."

"Oh," Callie said inwardly cringing at the fact that Stef had just referred to Ben as her uncle.

"We need to talk to you about something." Lena said.

"What's up?" Callie asked sitting across from her moms.

"What's your deal against your Uncle Ben?" Stef asked.

"Not this again," Callie said standing up putting her backpack over her shoulder in attempt to leave.

"Nuh uh," Stef said, "sit back down and answer my question."

"That what you randomly have this brother come into your life and you expect us all to be on board with it?" Callie asked her mother in disbelief. "Mom, how stupid do you think I am?"

"I don't think you're stupid at all," Stef said, "I do think you're being a little disrespectful to a man who _is_ your uncle."

"I have my right to be skeptical about a man that has only been in our lives for all of 2.5 seconds. A man that we don't know if he's just going to build up this relationship with you and just leave you and everybody else in this family high and dry." Callie defended herself, repeating what she told Brandon several days before.

"Do you really think he's that kind of man?" Stef asked, incredulously. "Do you think he's going to leave this family high and dry after things get comfortable?"

"I don't know," Callie said, "Hence why I'm not warming up to him."

"Are you expecting him to prove something to you?" Stef asked. "Because your uncle has nothing to prove to you."

"I'm not willing to put myself in a position to get hurt," Callie said loud enough to make a point, "I'm not going to watch another person come in our lives just to walk away. Grandpa Frank did it, every single foster kid before Jesus and Mariana and between them and Jude did, and Dad did too."

The couple looked from Callie to each other, "Callie honey," Lena said. "What does that mean?"

"I always told Brandon not to get attached to anybody," she said. "After watching Grandpa Frank walk away from us when he met you," Callie said to Lena, "and watching our dad try to make up for years of being an alcoholic, we almost lost the twins to Ana and we might lose Jude to Donald. I'm not letting some guy that just walks into our lives and says he's your brother tear this family apart."

It then dawned on Stef that Brandon and Callie may have had it good. They had three parents who loved them unconditionally, a roof over their head, plenty of food on the table, and clean clothes on their back, but it never occurred to Stef that they might have been effected by the divorce. Sure, it was over ten years ago. Sure, they loved Lena just like another mother. But, Brandon and Callie Foster have hurt inside of them that never has been dealt with.

"Baby," Stef said with tears in her eyes.

"Brandon and I, yeah, we have it good. We've never known what it's like to go hungry, cold, or unloved. But, it doesn't mean that we've never been _emotionally_ hurt." Callie swallowed before continuing, "You may have restored hope in humanity back into Jesus, Mariana, and Jude. Maybe Brandon never lost it, but he's a big part of our lives now and makes me scared that he'll just up and leave when he wants. There are some days, when your two arguments get bad," she gestured between the couple, "that I still think Lena will too."

Lena took a deep breath, "We're married now baby, I'm not going to just up and leave." She assured.

"Our dad did," Callie said. "And they were married for six years."

"I didn't know the divorce was still affecting you baby girl," Stef said.

"I never dealt with it," she said. "It made me realize that if I did that it would be official. That he's only partly in our lives. I've got little demons inside of me," she admitted. "I deal with them on my own because I realize that they aren't as big as Jesus, Mariana, and Jude's."

Both Stef and Lena jump out of their seats and sandwiched the girl between them, "You don't have to go through anything alone baby girl," Stef said in her ear, kissing it ever so gently. "Uncle Ben isn't going to leave us." She said. "Not now, not a month from now, not ever."

Callie silently cried into Stef's uniform as both the women held her. Maybe it was a long haul, but this was a start. It made both Stef and Lena realize that no matter how _good_ you have it, everybody still has little to big demons inside of them.

* * *

Several days later, on the Friday, Ben was sitting on the back porch of his house when the doorbell rang. He wasn't expecting any company, especially at 6:30 in the morning, but he stood up and went to the door.

When he answered it, he didn't expect to see what he saw, Callie standing there in a soccer pants, Adidas shoes, a Anchor Beach soccer sweatshirt, with her lip between her teeth.

"Hey Callie," he said. "What's up?"

"May I talk to you?" She asked politely.

"Sure, does your moms know you're here?" He asked letting her in.

"Uh yeah," she said. "They actually suggested it." She added remembering the long talk they had the night after Callie's confession of being afraid of being hurt.

"Can I get you something to drink?" He then asked. "Water? Orange juice?"

"Orange juice would be nice." She said as he poured her a glass.

The two made it out to the back porch and sat across from each other and stared at each other for a moment, "Whenever you're ready." He said prompting her to start.

"I'm sorry," she said. "For calling you a fool. For making you feel unwanted in our home."

"It's really okay, kid." He said. "May I ask why though?"

Callie took a deep breath, "When Brandon and I were four, our parents split up, but we didn't know it. Our mom said that our dad had a night shift and he was always there for breakfast in the morning. And then Lena came into the picture and our mom said that she and our dad were getting a divorce. Our dad checked out for awhile to get his head around everything."

Ben looked at his niece and saw that she was struggling a little he smiled and gave her a nod of encouragement, "He ended up being an alcoholic and having to do a lot of damage control when he made a vow to be sober." She softly smiled. "But, it didn't make up for those times where I needed my daddy and he wasn't there."

Callie took a deep breath, "Grandpa Frank sort of left our lives after my mom and Lena got together. You know that," she said and he nodded. "We were just getting into the swing of things again when you came into the picture. And I put my guards up because I didn't want to get hurt again."

Callie took a sip of orange juice, "Y'see everybody sees me and Brandon like we're two privileged, middle class kids from Mission Bay who have their lives figured out. Like our worlds are full of butterflies and rainbows and everything works out. But, that's not the case. Not everything works out."

She looked at Ben straight in the eyes and said, "I'm not going to promise you that things between you and I are going to be perfect. But, I will promise from here on out, I'll try to let you in."

Ben swallowed, "We all have our inner demons. Some bigger than others," he said. "I don't expect you to love me right away. I shouldn't expect you to like me, but I do want to get to know you before you go off to Penn State." He added with a smile. "Congratulations on that, by the way."

"Thanks." She said with a small smile.

"It seems that you and I have a lot to work out," Ben said. "But, this right here, right now is a start."

Callie nodded, "So does that mean you'll be cheering Anchor Beach on tomorrow at the California State Girl's Soccer Championship?" She asked.

"Is this you inviting me?" He asked. Callie nodded, "Then yeah, I'll be there."

* * *

**A/N 2:** True story, what Callie just went through in this chapter is the same situation I went through right after graduating from high school. Glad I finally could write it out.

The whole Adams Foster fam in the next chapter! :)


	7. The Road To Forever Family

**A/N: **Thanks for sticking with me! :)

Y'know how I said that this in an AU, yeah... introducing another original character in this chapter that will be Lena's full-blooded biological sister that Ben may or may not have a history with.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: The Road To Forever Family**

Things settled down after Callie and Ben's talk. He had come over that even at Stef's practical demand. He spent the weekend with them, watch Callie and Anchor Beach win the state championship, and even managed to meet Mike.

He was currently sitting at a Friday night dinner with the Adams Foster family when something occurred to Mariana, "Are you seeing anyone?" She asked Ben.

The question made everybody almost spit out what they were eating or drinking when Ben came back with, "I'm your uncle and like nine years older than you and not your type."

"You really are related to Mom," Callie said from across from him referring to his dry humor.

"This means we have Dad's humor," Ben said to Stef.

Stef cringed, "I resent that," she said. "I do not have Dad's humor."

"You kind of do Mom," both Brandon and Callie said in unison earning a glare from the blonde cop.

"Okay," Mariana said, "I didn't mean for it to escalate to this, but my question is still on the table."

"No," Ben answered his niece's question. "I barely can take care of myself. If you add somebody else to the equation, it'll just end bad."

"You know who he sounds like," Stef asked Lena.

"Who?" Lena asked looking skeptically to her wife.

"Emily," Stef said simply making her wife and kids once again almost spit out their food.

"Emily?" Jesus asked. "As in Aunt Emily?"

"As in Mama's sister?" Brandon clarified even more.

"Yeah," Stef said. "Think about it," she continued. "They're both busy with careers to settle down, both single, they're both a little nerdy-"

"Hey, I resent that, I am _not_ nerdy." Ben interrupted.

"Both deny to their respective sister that they aren't a little nerdy." She said side-eyeing the man, "both own their own business. Both graduated high school at 15. It's like our siblings are the gender opposite of each other."

Lena's eyes went wide, "Oh my goodness, they are." She agreed with her wife. "Scary similar."

"What does your sister do?" Ben asked Lena curiously.

"She got a law degree from Stanford, she primarily works with businesses here in San Diego." She said. "I haven't talked with her in awhile. I probably should." She said thinking out loud.

"Wait," Ben said looking up from his plate, "what's your last name again?"

"Adams Foster," Stef quipped earning a glare from her little brother.

"My maiden last name is just Adams," Lena said looking amused at the sister-brother duo.

"Emily Adams?" Ben said. "Like of Fisher and Adams Business Law Group?" He asked.

"Yeah," Lena said, smiling fondly of her sister.

"She's my company's lawyer." He said. "Small world."

"Now I know why _The Opinionated Buzz_ sounded familiar," Lena said. "Weren't you the same company that the LA Times had a huge law suit against because somebody plagiarized one of their journalists work?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "We ended up having to fire that reporter. That's what I don't like about my job is that I have the power of my employee's future in my hands."

"I'd think that'd be a good part of being the boss," Jesus said.

"I think of the whole picture with my employees," Ben said. "I always think, does this person have a spouse and kids? Does this employee have people counting on them like they're counting on me?"

"Are you sure you're Dad's son?" Stef asked jokingly.

"I have some qualities like my mom." He said, "But anyway, yeah, Emily is always great to work with. I've never met somebody so in love with business law, I'll admit. I was kind of taken back when I met her. She has such a stong presnece that I've never seen for somebody our age. She's so confident in what she does."

"She wanted to get off the educator path that our parents and I were on. She wanted to be her own person."

"But, your parents made her feel like what she was doing wasn't good enough," he continued for her. "I know that," he said.

"Dad made feel that way?" Stef asked.

The man nodded, "A little and then my moms didn't make it feel any better when I told them my major sophomore year."

"What exactly was your major?" Jude asked his uncle.

"The exact name of the program I went through was Mass Communications and Journalism." He answered. "Emily and I actually had a conversation about that as she got a text from your mom one time when we were working on that case."

"Yeah," Lena said, "my mom could be overbearing sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Stef asked her wife with a raised eyebrow.

"Most of the time," she said thinking about her mother. A beat of silence, "Y'know, we can always set up a time for you to see Emily outside of a professional setting if you want. Maybe you could finally come to terms with that blush on your face when we talk about her in the future." Lena added with a wink.

Ben spit out some of the beer he was drinking, "Totally not necessary." He said. "You don't have to do that." He added feeling slightly embarrassed. "How about we change the subject?" He then asked.

"Yeah, for now," Stef said. "Lena and I will be bringing this up again."

"Oh Moms," Jude said taking the light off of his uncle's embarrassment, "did you invite Uncle Ben to Monday?"

Stef and Lena smiled at each other, "Not yet," Lena said looking over at their youngest child.

"What's Monday?" Ben asked eating the piece of pizza in front of him.

"My adoption day," Jude said excitedly.

The Monday after Callie and Ben's talk, Stef and Lena took their lawyer and Donald and his lawyer to court to fight that Donald would sign his rights away. It was a rough process because Donald was getting back on his feet after being released on parole, but somehow the managed to win.

"If you can get away from work for awhile," Stef said, "our adoption hearing is at 3:30 and then we're having a big family celebration here. Lena's parents are flying in and so is my mom. Emily will be here too," she added just to watch her brother squirm a little.

"Uh yeah, sure, I'll be here," he said. "Wouldn't miss it. Adoption hearings are some of the most beautiful things."

"I sometimes forget that you've been to two of them," Stef said.

"I almost missed Leah's two years ago because of a final in my master's program." He said clearly still feeling guilty. "But, I'll defintely be at yours little man," he said to Jude. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Thank you, Uncle Ben." Jude said. "It means the world to me."

He nodded, "We, uh, we could do the celebration at my place though." The couple looked at him, "It'll be my present to Jude." He added. "And an excuse to use my grill."

"I like the sound of that," Stef said looking at Lena who nodded in agreement.

* * *

The day before Jude's adoption hearing, the grandparents started to roll in from their respective homes. The three of them knew that Ben was in the Adams Foster family's lives now and the three of them couldn't wait to meet the man, especially Sharon, who had already met him once when she went to see Frank when she was visiting a six years back. The woman was excited to see him again.

The three walked in with both Stef and Lena as Ben was sitting on the couch playing a video game with both Jesus and Jude.

"We're home," Stef called while walking through the front door.

The boys turned off the video game and excitedly met their moms and grandparents at the door. Callie and Mariana walked into the foyer from upstairs and Brandon walked in from the kitchen. All excitedly greeting their grandparents. Ben hung back letting the family welcome the three older adults until Sharon made eye contact with him.

"My goodness, you aren't that awkward, scrawny, 17-year-old boy anymore." Sharon said walking over to him, hugging him.

"I've picked up a weight or two in the last six years." He said hugging her back. "It's nice to see you again, Sharon."

She pulled back and grabbed his face in between her hands, "It's nice to see you too, kiddo."

"You two have met before?" Stef asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Sharon said. "Your father introduced me to him a few years back."

Stef's eyebrow raised, "Why?" She asked.

"Because one time he called me for parenting advice and I wanted to meet the kid." Sharon said looking at her daughter.

"You must be Mr. and Mrs. Adams," Ben said taking everybody's attention from the mother-daughter stare down that Stef and Sharon were in.

"Yes," Dana said, "but you can call us Dana and Stuart."

He nodded, "Ben," he introduced himself.

"We've heard a lot about you," Stuart said shaking the man's hand. "Nice handshake."

"Thanks, it's a pleasure to meet you both," he said.

"The pleasure is ours," Dana said as the doorbell rang.

"It's probably just Emily." Lena said answering the door. "Hi baby sister," she said.

"Hey big sister," Emily said stepping into the house. "Hi Mom, Dad, everybody else."

"Aunt Emily," all the kids called at once surrounding her in a group hug.

"Hey nieces and nephews." She chuckled. "Hi Stef," she said hugging her sister-in-law and kissing her cheek.

"Hey," Stef said. "Thanks for coming to the pre-celebration."

"Not a problem, we all know that Jude's my favorite nephew." Emily joked.

"Hey," she heard from both Brandon and Jesus.

"Hi Mom and Dad," she said hugging them sperately. "Sharon," she said. "It's always a pleasure to see you." She said hugging Stef's mom.

"Likewise." Sharon said.

"And, it really is true, Benjamin Carlson is related to Stefanine Adams Foster," she said shaking his hand.

"Nice to see you again, Emily Adams." He said shaking her hand.

"How on Earth do you two know each other?" Dana asked.

"She's my company lawyer." He said. "Saves us every time there's trouble."

"Which knowing this troublemaker," Emily said gesturing to Ben, "is most days of the year."

"That's Raider, not me." Ben defended. "I'm the good business owner."

Emily chuckled, "That's right, we established that Raider causes all the public trouble and you just start the prank wars in the office."

"Exactly," Ben said smiling softly at the woman, who looked like a 20-something version of Lena.

"Good to know that the mischivious pranking comes from the Elkin side of the family," Lena said eyeing Stef.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Stef said wrapping her arm around her wife's shoulders.

"Mhm," Lena said leaning into her wife. "Whatever you say." She kissed Stef's cheek.

"How about we make our way into the living room instead of all just standing in the foyer?" Stef said changing the subject.

* * *

Later that night, Ben woke up from a nightmare and he couldn't breathe, he opted to sleep on an air mattress in the family room, giving Stuart and Dana the pull out couch and Sharon the family room couch and giving Emily the couch in the living room. They were making it a family affair with Jude's adoption having everybody stay over.

He quietly slipped onto the back porch to get some air. He couldn't breathe, he didn't know why the nightmares were reoccurring and he sure as hell didn't want to go wake up Stef and Lena even if they practically beg him to. He sat on the steps of the porch when he heard the back door open and shut.

He turned around to see Stef standing their wrapping her robe around her tighter.

"Ben?" She said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Stef." He said, "Sorry for waking you up. You can go back to sleep now."

"I'm not sure Lena would be able to forgive me if she knew I left you out here in the state you're in."

"I'm fine," he reiterated.

"And, I was born yesterday," Stef said sitting next to him wrapping her arm around him protectively. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nightmare," he answered honestly.

"Again?" Stef asked worriedly. "What was it about?" She asked going through their normal post-nightmare conversation.

"It started out okay," he said. "It always does. I was running a marathon and I was doing pretty good. And then my running turned into a full-on sprint and something was chasing me. I don't know what it was, but I know it wasn't something good. And just as it was about to catch me, I jolted awake."

Stef pressed a gentle kiss to the man's temple, "Bro," she said softly. "I think you need to take Lena's suggestion about getting some professional help."

"I don't need therapy." Ben argued.

"Oh, but you do." Stef said. "Look, I love you too much to see you go through this pain."

"What?" He asked Stef. The two have never actually said I love you to each other like normal siblings have, so it took him by surprise.

"Yeah, you heard me right." Stef said pressing another kiss to his temple, "I love you. You're my _brother,_ what makes you think that I like seeing you go through this?"

"The thought of therapy scares me," he said. "Not the going to it part, the dealing with the inner demons that have been here for so long part."

"What makes you think you'll be going through all of this alone?" Stef asked wrapping her arm tighter around the man, "Because Lena's already told you that we promised your moms that we would take care of you. She meant it. She loves you too, you know."

Ben's rested his head comfortably on Stef's shoulder, "She does?" He asked.

"Yeah," she said. "You're that younger brother she never got to have. She loves Emily, but she also wanted a younger brother too. So she gets to do that with you and it makes her happy."

He sat there comfortably in Stef's arms for awhile, it was pretty chilly outside with a breeze, but he felt oddly warm in Stef's protective embrace.

"For the record," he said after five minutes of a peaceful silence, "I love you too. Lena as well."

Stef smiled as she kissed the top of his head and slightly rocked the two of them back and forth.

After awhile Stef changed the subject by saying, "So, you and Emily."

"What about me and Emily?" Ben asked.

"How long is it going to take for you to realize that you like her and she likes you?" Stef said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ben said.

"Oh come on," Stef said. "The way you two were looking at each other throughout tonight makes me beg to differ."

Ben sighed, "You really know how to kill a beautiful moment Stef," he said.

"And you know how to avoid the subject," Stef said back.

"I do like her," he admitted, "but I've got all this stuff going through my head that I don't want to drag her along through all of that."

"You're a good guy Ben," she said.

"I try," he said. "I really do try."

* * *

Jude's adoption hearing was what the Adams Foster family had been talking about since the Adams Foster wedding. It may have taken longer because of Donald and other legal issues, but when it finally arrived, the excitement in Stef, Lena, Brandon, Callie, Jesus, Mariana, and especially Jude, was high. Very high.

When the judge brought down his gavel and meaning that Jude went from Jude Jacob, the foster kid, to Jude Jacob Adams Foster, the legal child of Stefanie and Lena Adams Foster. The family actually cheered.

After the chaos of the first family photo, adding the rest of the family in the mix, and leaving the courthouse, the entire family found themselves at Ben's place for the celebration.

Lena found Ben alone cooking on the grill and she came behind him, "How are those burgers coming along?" She asked.

"Good," he said. "Not that much longer."

Lena nodded, "Stef told me about your nightmare." She said.

He sighed, "Yeah, sorry for taking her from your side early this morning." He said.

"No need to apologize," she said. "Have you thought about what I suggested?" She asked, he tried to speak before Lena said, "Because Stef and I will be behind you 100% of the way. I promise you that."

"Okay," he said.

"Really?" Lena asked not willing to believe that a man related to her wife would cave so quickly.

"I'd like to be able to sleep through the night without any problems," he admitted.

Lena nodded and hugged the man, "I love you, Ben." She said, "You're like that little brother that I never had."

Ben smiled over the top of Lena's head, "I know," he said. "I love you too."

* * *

The family was sitting around the back patio table laughing about a story Sharon was telling of Stef's childhood.

"And I thought I gave my moms heart attacks growing up," Ben said to Stef.

"Yeah, I learned not to sneak out of the house late at night the hard way," she said to him. "I highly doubt, you gave your moms heart attacks when you graduated high school at 15."

"You clearly have never been to college period," he said. "The parties, the alcohol, the drugs..."

"Don't remind me," Stef said. "This one's off to Penn State in the fall," she added gesturing to Callie.

"Yeah on a full ride scholarship," the teenager said. "And I'm not messing that up."

"Smart kid," Stuart said from his place next to her placing a loose arm around the girl's shoulder.

"Thanks Pops," Callie said smiling.

As silence filled the back porch, Ben's phone went off, and he got up to take it,"Nuh uh," Stef called after him. "Come on bro."

"Sorry Jude," he said stepping inside. "Five minutes tops."

"It's fine Uncle Ben," the boy said.

"A work call during a family dinner?" Dana asked incredulously.

"Apparently, it's the norm when he's with his moms and siblings." Jesus answered his grandmother. "And he always keeps his word to five minutes."

"It's really fine," Jude said. "I'm honored that he took this afternoon off for me. He really didn't have to."

"Of course he did," Emily said from her place next to Jude, "family is important."

Lena smiled at her sister, it was funny how they were each other's opposites to everything, but family.

"Yeah, but either way, I understand." Jude said. "He also has to make a living."

"Dude, bro," Jesus said, "stop growing up on us already. Be thirteen." He joked making everybody laugh.

* * *

Later that evening, everybody was scatter throughout Ben's private beachside stargazing. Stef and Lena had Jude between them cuddling the boy, Sharon, Stuart and Dana were sitting on the porch bench looking up at the sky, Brandon and Mariana were sitting crisscrossed talking, Callie and Jesus were lying on the beach with the arms behind their heads and feet crossed also talking. Leaving Ben and Emily standing on the balcony outside Ben's bedroom people watching their family.

"How weird was it?" Emily asked him.

"How weird was what?" Ben asked back.

"Meeting your sister and her family," Emily said, "Because I know you Carlson, you are _not_ good when it comes to meeting new people. You get all awkard and introverted."

"She randomly showed up at the office one day," he said remembering when he finally got to meet his sister. "And the moment I heard Stefanie Adams Foster, I knew that it was the best day of my life. Lena insisted that if it went well that I come over for dinner," he said. "And it felt like I was being interviewed, y'know?"

Emily chuckled, "Yeah, I do know that," she said. "It felt like that when I first met Stef."

"I knew one day I would meet her," he said, "Stef," he clarified. "But, meeting her in the way I did was not what I expected."

Emily nodded, "I can understand that." She said.

* * *

Down below Jesus and Callie were having a conversation about Callie's scholarship.

"I'm going to miss you, dude." Jesus said. "I get why you're doing it though." He added. "Getting away from all that's hurt you."

Callie and Jesus had a pretty good sibling relationship. The understood what it was like to be a twin. The two spent most of the beginning of Jesus' time with the Adams Foster family bonding over soccer. Jude maybe the first person Callie would fight for, but Jesus was a close second and Mariana and Brandon would tie for third. Callie knew that it was the same for Jesus. He would fight for Jude first, her second, and Mariana and Brandon tired for third. And of course their moms were somewhere in there, nobody messed with the Adams Foster family and got away with it.

Callie smiled, "I'm sorry," she said. "I wanted to stay here with you guys, I just, it's a big opportunity, y'know?"

"I get it," Jesus said. "If I join you in two years, you wouldn't mind your little bro crashing all your college parties, right?"

"If Moms let you join me," she joked. "They're only letting me go solely because of my scholarship."

"It's just-" he started and then stopped. "San Diego is all I know. Hell California is all I know," he said. "Maybe we'll see what happens."

"I'm always going to be here for you Jesus," Callie said. "No matter if I'm in Pennsylvania or China, I'm always here for you."

Jesus nodded and the sound of the ocean a muted conversations from his family took over and then he said through a yawn, "But, if you ever go to China, take me with you."

"Deal," Callie said.

"Jude Adams Foster," Jesus said, "I really like the sound of that."

"Yeah, Jesus and Mariana Adams Foster have a nice ring to it as well," Callie said in a way of saying that she loves that he and Mariana are in the family too. Jesus smiled at his sister silently thanking her for always loving them.

* * *

Brandon and Mariana were looking at the stars in silence before Mariana said, "How could you be okay with Callie going to Penn State?"

"Whoever said I was okay with it?" Brandon asked his little sister.

"You aren't forcing her to stay," Mariana said.

"I'm not forcing her to go either. Brandon countered.

"B," Mariana said, "come on, I know you. This is hard for you. You've never been in a world without Callie there."

"You just _haaad_ to point out that Callie's fifteen minutes older." Brandon said jokingly. "Although, I did have piece and quiet for those fifteen minutes."

"Hey," Callie called over from her place with Jesus, "I heard that."

"It's true though, those were the quietest fifteen minutes of my life." Brandon said.

"The beginning of the loudness for me and your dad," Stef said from her place holding both Jude and Lena.

"And you all wanna know why I'm moving to Pennsylvania," Callie said.

"Mama and I still love you," Jude said from his place in both Stef and Lena's arms.

"Thank you," Callie said. "I still love you two as well."

"You may joke, but this is hard on you." Mariana said only to him. "I know that. If I were in your position with Jesus, I wouldn't know what to do."

"I'm moving to LA in the fall," Brandon said.

Mariana's eyes widened, "Do Moms know? Does your dad know? Hell does _anybody_ know?"

"Lou is getting the band a cheap place to crash, we're planning on taking Someone's Little Sister worldwide. But, no, Moms and my dad don't know and until we get everything into place. I would like to keep it that way." Brandon said looking at Mariana.

"Fine, my lips are sealed, but damn, I feel like I'm losing two siblings in one shot." She said.

"Sorry little sister," he said wrapping his arm around the girl. "Jude Adams Foster," he said after a moment, "it has a nice ring to it."

"It does, doesn't it?" Mariana agreed.

* * *

Stef was holding Jude and Lena, how she didn't know - Jude was in between them, but she had her arms around the both of them.

"You know I could sit with the grandparents if you want to hold Mama solo, Mom." Jude said.

"Nonsense." Stef said. "This is my favorite spot with two of my favorite people." She kissed Jude's temple.

"Okay," he said. "Sorry, I've been in the foster care system long enough to sometimes not feel like I'm worth anybody's time."

"You're worth _our_ time baby," Lena said kissing his cheek.

"Sometimes I feel like you two are just saying that." He said.

"We aren't baby," Stef assured. "We want to spend time with our boy."

"Okay," he said attempting to snuggle into them both.

"We love you, Jude." Lena said kissing his forehead. "Nothing's going to change that."

"I love you too," he said, burying his face into Lena's chest.

"Jude Adams Foster," Stef said aloud, "I really like the sound of that."

Lena hummed, "Me too." She agreed with her wife.

"Me three," Jude said smiling.

* * *

The three grandparents were sitting on the back porch sipping on wine and talking about their family.

"Jude's a good kid," Sharon said. "Been through a lot in his short 13 years, but he's still a good kid."

"Stef and Lena are a good fit for him," Dana agreed. "I hope that he can finally settle in and be apart of this family."

"Yeah," Stuart said, "it's like the family is almost complete."

"What do you mean?" Sharon asked.

"We're waiting for that one to settle down and start a family," he said pointing up to where Emily and Ben were talking.

"What do you think it'll take for those two to see that they have feelings for each other?" Sharon asked.

"A goddamn miracle," Dana said. "Emily Mae was always an oblivious one. Seems like Ben is a little too."

"Hopefully one day they'll see it," Stuart said, "but until then, don't push the matter." He said to both the woman, but mainly Dana. "We have five beautiful grandchildren that can tide us over until Emily decides to have kids of her own."

"Yeah," Dana said, "we do."

* * *

**A/N 2:** Don't worry the story isn't focused on the whole Ben-Emily thing. It will be a minor plot in the story though. This idea has been in my head since before I started writing this story out. I really thank you for sticking with me. :)


	8. The Road To Unconditional Love

**A/N:** Thank you so much for your support.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: The Road To Unconditional Love**

Stef and Ben where in an intense staring match when Lena walked into the kitchen from the grocery store one Saturday early afternoon.

"Dare I ask what's going on?" Lena said to the siblings.

"I got us tickets to the Dodger-Padre game," Ben said. "And by _us_ I mean, myself, Stef, Jesus, and Brandon, and Jude, if they want to go. And she's trying to reimburse me for them."

"What's wrong with that?" Lena asked placing the bags down on the table looking at her wife.

"You two feed me every day," he said. "I don't care if the lunches are leftovers from the night before." He said to Stef. "Please let me take you and my nephews with no strings attached."

"Stef honey," Lena said coming behind her wife kissing her head, "you should just let him do it."

"Fine," she said, "but let me pay for parking."

"Come on," he said, "can you let me take you out without insisting on paying for something?"

"No," Stef said.

"Is she always like this?" Ben asked Lena.

The principal nodded, "Sorry kiddo, you're out of luck with this one. She's stubborn."

He grumbled, "You're not paying for anything," he then said. "This is my treat to my sister and my nephews."

"You're not going to try to convert Jude into being a Dodgers fan are you?" Stef asked squinting at him.

"Considering he has to live in this house, you really think I'd do that? Have some faith." He said.

"Okay fine," she said. "Your treat to us." Stef caved.

"Good," he said picking up the coffee mug he was drinking coffee out of.

"So Ben," Lena said. "Emily asked me about you yesterday."

Ben sighed, "When are you two going to let that go?" He asked a little exasperated.

"When you finally grow the balls to ask her out," Stef said earning an uneasy look that almost looked like a glare from her wife. "Sorry," she said. "When you get the guts to ask her out," she amended.

"Stef, we talked about this," Ben said. "I have my own demons to work out before I get into any relationship."

Lena looked over at her wife and then to her brother-in-law, "You said that?" Lena asked.

"Yeah, after I had that nightmare the night before Jude was adopted." He answered his sister-in-law, "I don't want to get into a relationship with Emily and then drag her along through whatever demons I have to work out. That's how my last relationship ended, but the thing was, I didn't know I had all of this inside me. So, I got really attached and then really hurt when it all ended. I don't want to get myself hurt or hurt Emily in this process."

Lena looked fondly on the man, she appreciated his heart, and not wanting to hurt her baby sister, but she had to ask the next question, "You like her though, right?"

"I have feelings for her that I haven't had for anybody. Liking somebody and having feelings for them are two different things. Do I like her? Yeah, of course. Do I have feelings for her? In a way I don't even understand." He looked deep into Lena's soft eyes, "I have no intention on hurting your baby sister, so until I'm fully ready to be in a relationship with her, I'm not going to push it."

Lena smiled, "Thank you," she said. "I'm a little protective of her sometimes. Especially when it comes to dating. Stef is too."

"She's become like a little sister," Stef said. "A super smart and a little nerdy little sister, but still a little sister."

"She is kind of nerdy," Ben agreed.

"So are you," Stef said.

"I'm not a little nerdy," he said.

"I think you know more about DC and Marvel comics _and_ characters than anybody else that I know," Stef said through a chuckle.

"I was an only child for eleven years and then Leo came along and was equally into them, that's how we, well, bonded." Ben said thinking of that Saturday morning where all the two of them did was read comics and play video games. It had been the morning that the two really went from foster brothers to just brothers.

_Flashback._

A 12-year-old Ben was really skeptical of a 6-year-old Leonardo, or as the boy liked to be called Leo. His moms said if this worked out that he would turn from a Leonardo Tyler to a Leonardo Wright-Carlson. Ben was really trying to get along with him, but with the six year age gap, he was finding it harder too.

But, they shared a bathroom that connected all three of the non-master bedrooms together and Ben really did like the boy. He was trying hard to relate with him, but he could tell that by the age of six, he'd been late down more than he should've ever had to.

One Saturday morning they both were brushing their teeth in the bathroom when an idea came to Ben. He loved comic books and video games and he was hoping that Leo did too.

"Hey Leo," Ben said after spitting out the toothpaste as the boy looked at him through the mirror, "do you like comic books and video games?" The older boy asked. Leo nodded his head before spitting out his toothpaste. "I have a ton of comic books and video games in my room. Do you want to hang out today after breakfast?"

Leo nodded and softly said, "Yeah, sure, but uh, I don't know really how to read that well." He admitted softly.

"That's fine," Ben said. "If anything I can read to you and you can still play video games, right?"

"Don't you have to go to San Diego to see your dad?" Leo asked.

"He's at some church retreat this weekend," Ben said. "So nope."

"Okay yeah sure." Leo said. "That sounds fun."

"Cool," he said. "My room after breakfast, okay?" Leo nodded.

After breakfast, the two boys were sitting in Ben's room going between Ben reading comic books out loud to Leo and playing video games. What neither one of the boys didn't know is that Kelly was standing outside Ben's bedroom door most of the afternoon watching tearfully at the boys because her son finally understood the concept of what family really was.

_End Flashback._

Ben was brought of the memory by Stef saying, "You two bonded over comic books and video games?"

"Yeah," Ben said, "it was actually the only thing we could get along with at first. When he first came into the picture, I had a major case of the only child syndrome. I thought he was taking more of my moms' attention away. It made me mad. Then I was on a quest to graduate from high school early. Just to get away from it all."

"I thought you love your family?" Stef asked.

Ben rubbed his head, "I do, a heck of a lot," he assured, "but sometimes, I feel like I'm invisible in my own childhood home."

"Do you think that maybe that's why you have these demons inside of you?" Lena asked starting to put the groceries away.

"Maybe," he said as Stef came around the table and put a loose arm around him.

"Something to talk about in therapy," Stef said as he rolled his eyes.

"I guess," he muttered, still not liking the prospect of therapy.

"It'll be fine," Lena said. "Doctor Baylor is a good friend of mine," she added, "she won't push your more than you can handle. And Stef and I will be outside waiting for you afterwards."

He chuckled, "You two do realize that you aren't my moms right? You don't have to sit outside my therapy appointment." He said.

"We're here for you," Stef said. "And nothing's going to change that."

* * *

It was rare, but Jesus and Mariana were out and about together for once - just being siblings.

"What do you want to do?" Jesus asked Mariana. "With our allowance combined we maybe able to spend the day at the pier."

"Like we used to?" Mariana asked.

Jesus smiled and nodded. When they came to live with Stef and Lena, they would save up their weekly allowance and went once a month to the pier and it was like it was just the two of them. No adoptive family that sometimes they didn't feel belonged in. No crazy, high birth mother. Just Jesus and Mariana.

_Flashback._

Jesus and Mariana had been living with the Fosters for about two months now and while they felt comfortable they felt like they were always in competition with the older twins, Brandon and Callie.

The family was taking a family day at the pier and neither set of twins agreed on what to do and both Stef and Lena saw their soon-to-be newest additions to the family really apprehensive and just giving into whatever Brandon and Callie wanted to do.

Stef knelt down in front of them and said, "Do you want to go on that roller coaster ride?" Both of them shook their heads, "Do you want to go play some games?" Stef asked, they both subtly nodded their heads. "How about this," Stef then said, "I'll take the older twins on the roller coaster and since Lena isn't a fan of them, she'll take you to play some games? Does that sound fair?" She asked.

"You would do that for us?" Jesus asked Stef in a small voice. A voice that they had heard in Mariana, but not in the usual hyperactive Jesus.

"Of course," Lena said crouching down to their level, "we want this to be a day that we all enjoy."

"Mariana is afraid of roller coasters and I don't want to leave her, we thought we were coming here just to play games," he said, trying to find a little more confidence.

"And that's okay," Lena said. "Stef will take the older twins on the roller coaster and I'll take you two to go play some games? Does that sound good?" The younger twins nodded. "Alrighty, let's meet back here in about an hour and a half, okay?" She said mainly to Lena who nodded.

"Sounds good honey," Lena said softly and quickly kissing Stef's cheek, "have fun." Lena then crouched down to the younger twins level again, "Alrighty, you to ready to have some fun?" She asked. They both nodded, "Let's go." She said leading them to where games were on the pier.

Lena stood back and watched the younger twins play games and they quietly communicated in Spanish to each other as they went from one game to the next. As they got a little bit older, they started going once a month to just be siblings again.

_End Flashback._

"Ever since Callie accepted the scholarship for Penn State, I've been thinking about how in two years, that could be us, y'know? I've never been in a world without you and I think once a month we should do this, like we used to."

Mariana nodded, "Of course," she said as they got on they started walking to the pier.

When they got their they started to play a few games and that's how they spent their afternoon together and as they were about ready to head home for dinner, something or rather somebody caught their eye.

"Ana," they both said quietly to each other as they watched their birth mother walk towards them for the first time since Stef got shot on what could've been a fatal night for the Foster family.

* * *

When Jesus and Mariana arrived home later that night they were talking to each other lowly in Spanish.

"Tenemos que decirles. (We have to tell them.)" Mariana said.

"No, ambos nos matarán. (No, they both will kill us.)" Jesus said.

"Hay madres, Jesús. Tenemos que decirles. (There are moms, Jesus. We have to tell them.)" Mariana argued.

"Hey," Stef said as they entered the kitchen. "None of us speak Spanish in this house."

"Speak for yourself," Ben said. "I do." The younger twins' eyes went wide as he looked at them and said, "Sea lo que sea que está escondidos, no va a ser bonito si lo mantienes de vuestras madres durante demasiado tiempo. (Whatever it is you two are hiding, it's not going to be pretty if you keep it from your moms for too long.)"

"Wow, do you speak any other languages?" Lena asked.

"Yeah, Japanese, Sign Language, and a little French." He said.

"Show off," Stef playfully muttered under her breath while playfully shoving his shoulder.

"It works good in business deals with Japan and Mexico." Ben said taking a sip of the beer in front of him.

"What's going on babies?" Stef asked her youngest set of twins.

Jesus looked at Mariana and vigorously shook his head, but Mariana didn't listen, "We were at the pier and we had a good afternoon until we ran into Ana."

"Mariana," Jesus muttered under his breath.

"The last time I didn't tell them, Mom almost died," she said to Jesus.

Stef and Lena looked at each other, "Did you talk to her?" Stef asked.

"Well we didn't want to be rude," Mariana defended.

"What did she want?" Lena asked with an uneasy look on her face.

"She wanted to talk to us," Jesus said, "but don't worry. I didn't let her. I told her we were going to be late for dinner and we walked away."

"Is that all?" Stef asked. Not fully trusting the two at that moment. They nodded, "Are you sure?" She asked again mainly for her and Lena's sake.

"Mom," Jesus said. "We know what we did to this family that night. I'm not having both Brandon and Callie yell at us both again."

"Why would we yell?" Brandon said coming into the kitchen for dinner with Callie and Jude in tow.

"We ran into Ana today," Mariana answered as both Brandon and Callie went stiff.

Ben, who was watching everything somewhat amused, finally spoke up, "So what exactly happened that night to make your oldest two get like that?" He asked making a mention to how stiff the older twins were.

"It's a long story," Stef said.

"Cliffnotes are always good in my opinion." The man said.

"These two were stupid enough to go behind their backs and get in contact with their birth mom," Callie said, obviously it lit a fuse in the girl.

"Hey," Stef chastised, "easy there, Striker."

"We almost lost her," Jude said. "We didn't know whether or not she was going to make it."

"But, she did." Lena assured everyone in the room. "She's still here," she said mainly to Callie who was still lit up about the situation. Lena put a comforting hand on Callie's forearm. "Easy on your brother and sister, please." Lena asked softly knowing that for whatever reason it was, Callie listened better to Lena than she did to Stef.

Brandon who had loosened up a bit had tried to make a joke, "Well at least Mom made an honest woman outta Mama." He said making the family laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ben asked gently to the couple.

"We've really been only married for almost four months, legally. I had some hidden homophobia from Dad." Stef answered her brother. "The first words out of my mouth to Lena after being shot was, 'will you marry me?' We had been together ten years before. Married in our hearts for at least seven years prior." She said looking over at Lena grabbing her hand.

Ben smiled at the couple, it actually warmed his heart to see two people so in love with each other. He didn't quite understand why people didn't see what he saw. Love is just love.

* * *

That night Stef and Lena were in their bedroom cuddling, Stef lied flat on her back with Lena's head on her chest thinking.

"Whatcha thinking about, my love?" Stef asked Lena.

"Why is it that every time we settle down into a groove Ana shows back up again?" Lena asked frustratedly. "Every single time. I just want her gone."

"I know love," Stef agreed playing with the end of Lena's curls. "I want her gone too, but there's not much we can do about it."

"We can file a restraining order, can't we?" Lena asked.

"Baby," Stef said, "at some point, we need to face this situation head on and not hide behind a restraining order because we're afraid she's going to use the younger twins again."

Lena groaned, "So it seems the roles are reversed right now," she said. "You're the one that's usually hotheaded when it comes to the whole Ana situation."

"Yeah," Stef said, "but I think the younger kids could find some closure, y'know, like Jude did with Donald? I think Jesus and Mariana could use that with Ana, don't you?"

"Yes," Lena muttered under her breath, "but it doesn't mean that I have to like it."

Stef chuckled and kissed her wife's forehead, "I love you Lena." She said.

"I love you too, Stef." Lena said looking up and kissing her wife.

* * *

Ben was downstairs on the pull-out couch wearing glasses and working on his laptop when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He looked up to see the younger set of twins standing there with nervous bottom lips between both their teeth.

"What's up?" He asked.

"You wear glasses?" Jesus asked trying to break the ice a little.

"Yeah," Ben said. "I wear contacts most days, but typically when I work at night I wear glasses, buuut I know that's not why you two came down here."

"We, we just," Jesus tried looking over at his sister.

"We just want to know if every time you're around and we speak Spanish that you're going to sell us out in Spanish in front of our non-Spanish speaking family." She said.

"Look," Ben said, "I don't like being the uncool uncle, especially since I was seven when you two were born. I like the fact that you guys are comfortable with me around. What I did tonight wasn't to sell you out, in fact, it was actually to get you to talk to your moms." He said making eye contact with them, "Because ever since I got here, I could tell the apprehensiveness and the uneasy tension between you two and them."

"We almost got our mom killed," Jesus said. "We feel awful about it."

Mariana looked down at her feet, "And the older twins and our mama they were really mad at us. We didn't want to cause anymore trouble than we already caused." She added.

Ben sighed and moved his MacBook and scooted over making room for the twins, "C'mere," he said to them as they got on either side of him he placed his arms around them both, "your moms and your older siblings, they _love_ you. Nothing's ever going to change that." He stared off into the distance for a moment before saying, "When I was younger my moms wanted to expand our family, but my mom's pregnancy with me was bad and my mama couldn't get pregnant. So they sat me down and asked me if it was okay if they became foster parents and then when Leo came into the picture I was 11 and at first I wanted him to go back to where he came from because he took away almost all of my moms' attention. And it made me mad to the point of I almost said no when they asked if it was okay to adopt him because I thought my moms didn't love me anymore because they had Leo. Is that how you feel with your moms? Do you feel like they don't love you anymore?"

Both the twins nodded, "Initially we thought they didn't want to keep us anymore." Mariana admitted for them both cuddling into her uncle.

"Yeah," Jesus said. "We just sometimes feel like we don't fit in here anymore," he said as his head fell.

"I heard your mama say something to Jude on his adoption day that still rings true to you two," Ben said running his fingers through Mariana's hair. "She said that DNA doesn't make a family, love does. They love you." He said. "A lot more than you two are giving yourself credit for. And as for Brandon and Callie, they love you too. They may have lashed out on you initially, but that's because they don't understand what it's like to not have enough."

"What do you mean?" Jesus asked.

"They've always had your moms and their dad who loved them unconditionally. Who would do anything for them, but they don't know what it's like to have the people who should've always been there for him walk away. I don't know what that's like either, I always had my moms and my dad in some way, but I watched my siblings, Leo and Leah, and they had the same issue you two did. Their moms and dads walked away from them. Leah's not on purpose, but Leo's was. Stef and Lena Adams Foster are your guys' version of Leo and Leah's Payton and Kelly Wright-Carlson. They will never give up on you. Not now, not ever."

The three sat there in a peaceful silence for awhile little did they know both Brandon and Callie were sitting on the top of the stairs listening to the entire conversation, they got up and walked into Brandon's room to have a conversation of their own.

* * *

"Do you think we're too hard on them?" Brandon asked Callie, who was pacing the room.

"They almost got Mom killed, B. Did you expect us to go easy on them?" Callie asked. "You know I love them, but every time Ana is brought up, bad things happen. First we almost couldn't adopt them and then they almost got Mom killed."

"Okay," Brandon said jumping up, "calm down. Damn, you get really worked up over this."

"We're _lucky_ that Mom survived." Callie said.

"But, Uncle Ben's right, we don't know what it's like to have the people who shouldn't have walked out on us walk out."

"Dad walked out," Callie said. "He didn't even fight for Mom. He just tried to drink away his problems. Dad walked out."

"And then he sobered up and came back," Brandon said. "Jesus and Mariana never met their dad and their mom was the biggest druggie that they've ever known. Yeah, Dad walked out and it hurt. Like fucking hell it hurt, but he came back. Moms let him come back. Ana may not have that chance with Jesus and Mariana."

Callie looked at her brother with passion in her eyes, "She doesn't deserve that chance." She said. "She managed to get knocked up and she couldn't own up to her consequences? Making those two down there go through hell." She said gesturing to the door. "She doesn't deserve that chance."

"Woah," Brandon said, "Callie, calm down. We aren't getting in the way of this. Not again."

"I'm not, but there's no way in hell that I'm going to watch them go through that again." Callie said.

Brandon placed both hands on his sister's shoulders, "All we can do is love them," Brandon said. "All we could do is look after them. All we can do is make them feel safe and loved. That's _all_ we can do."

Callie noticed the somber voice that her twin chose to use and then decided to calm down a little before causing more problems.

* * *

**A/N2:** That Spanish may not be accurate, I used BabelFish, but I'm debating about exploring that whole Ana storyline for a couple of chapters, just because it intrigued me so much watching it on the show.

Anyway, I meant to finish this and get it up yesterday, but family situations came up and I was drown in Pre-Algebra all night last night and all day today. So here you go! :)


	9. The Road To Change

**A/N:** Appreciate all the support!

* * *

**Chapter Nine: The Road To Change**

The next big event in the Adams Foster family was Brandon and Callie's graduation. The three grandparents were in town again and Mike was around the Adams Foster residence a little more.

"So," Dana said to Brandon, "Callie's going off to Penn State and your moms said you haven't said a word about your future."

Mariana looked over at her older brother, she had kept her word to keep her mouth shut, but she knows that he wouldn't lie to Gram, so she watched amusingly.

Brandon rubbed his forehead as he looked around the dining room trying to figure out how to answer that question. He saw his moms and dad looking up from their respective plate of food staring at him intrigued. His other two grandparents looking at him behind glasses of wine. His twin, Jesus, and Jude looking at him waiting for him to answer. Mariana was trying to hold in a smirk. And it was like Ben hadn't eaten in over a week and was so engrossed in his food that he didn't hear the question.

Brandon decided to just go with the truth, "Lou got us a deal with somebody in LA, they're just waiting for Mat and I to graduate and turn 18 to sign." He said making both Stef and Mike drop their forks.

"That's great honey," Lena said for the three parents. "Isn't that great Stef and Mike?" She asked her wife and her wife's ex husband in order to get them out of the haze that they both were in.

"We're losing two kids in one shot," Stef said to Mike.

"I knew that this would happen with twins," Mike said, "but it still shocks me that it's going to happen."

"So you two aren't mad?" Brandon asked his mom and dad. "Because I'd like you to be on board with this, but if not that's okay too."

"Yeah," Stef said. "We're okay with it honey. We were just shocked that you actually had a plan. Considering out of the two of you," she gesturing between the oldest twins, "you're not the one usually with a plan." She said to Brandon.

Brandon nodded with a smile, "Lou said she'd come to the graduation party to talk to you about it too."

"Sounds good," Stef said with a soft smile to her son.

Everybody was continuing eating in a peaceful silence when Ben finally spoke up, "Hey Jude, could you pass me the tritip please?"

Stef looked at her brother's plate as they had been only eating for about five minutes, "Good lord Ben, were you hungry?"

"What can I say?" He asked. "You ditched me today for lunch and I haven't eaten since breakfast at about 6:30 this morning."

"That's not healthy," Lena commented. "Were you like that before Stef came into the picture?"

"Maybe," he said putting more food on his plate and he looked up at Lena who gave him a glare.

"Ben," Lena said sighing.

"Sometimes I work all the way through lunch and don't eat until dinner," he said.

"We gotta get you out of that habit," Stef said placing a hand on her brother's thigh. "No need you dying by the time you're 25 because you don't eat something."

"Yeah, Emily might not appreciate that," Sharon joked making the man spit out the small amount of water that he was drinking.

"And we want more grandchildren eventually," Stuart jumped into messing with him.

"Oooh nieces and nephews," Lena said playfully.

"Just what I was about to say," Stef said winking at her wife. "You might want to get on top of that bro."

"Where is that Emily Mae tonight?" Dana asked Lena, but Ben answered.

"Still in the office something or another about a big law suit against a marketing company." He said and everybody looked at him, "What?"

"You do know that I was asking Lena that question, yes?" Dana asked.

"She never called me so I wouldn't have known," Lena said looking at the man.

Everybody's eyes were now on him, "Okay so maybe we talk a little." He said.

"A little?" Stef asked.

"We're just friends," he said.

"And I was born yesterday," Stef said.

"Seriously, when she comes over tomorrow you can ask her, we're just friends." He said. "I need to get myself together before we can be anything more and she and I are on the same page with that."

"So there's been talk," Callie said from across from him.

"Well I wasn't going to lead her on without an explanation." He said.

"See," Callie said, "why can't all guys be like you."

"What? Trouble in paradise with Aiden?" Brandon teased earning a glare from his twin.

"No, but still if all guys would just be decent enough to tell us women how they're feeling, the world would be one step closer to perfect."

"Look," Ben said to almost all the adults in the room, "Emily and I are just friends. Nothing more, nothing less."

"But you like her," Mike said surprising everybody.

"Y-yes," he said looking at the man who has only ever said a paragraph to him since meeting him at the Callie's state championship.

"The way your eyes light up when you talk about her are the same way that Stef's light up when she talks about Lena," Mike said. "And the fact that you don't want to screw things up is pretty honorable if you ask me."

"Thanks Mike," Ben said. "See why can't you all be like Mike?" He asked the rest of the adults in the room.

"We're just teasing bro," Stef said putting her arm around his shoulder. "If it's bothering you just let us know."

"I just am tired of being rushed, y'know? My moms are wanting grandchildren already and I'm tired of being pushed."

"I'm sorry." Stef said. "I didn't know."

"I didn't expect you to," Ben said. "I just am tired of being pushed. I know I should settle down and start a family. But, if I'm not ready to it's just all going to end bad and I don't want that for anybody, especially Emily."

"You're wiser than most," Stuart mentioned.

"I had to grow up a little faster than most parents would want their kid to. My moms expected a lot from me when they became foster parents." He said looking down at his second helping of food.

"Hey," Stef said rubbing up and down his arm, "look at me." Ben slowly looked up into his sister's eyes, "You're a good guy," she reassured. "And Stuart, Dana, Lena, and I, all appreciate you taking care of Emily's heart."

"We do," Stuart said. "My baby girl deserves a Prince Charming."

"We're still going to tease you a little though," Stef said. "Just because it's fun and you tease me and Lena all the time. And if it gets too much, just say so."

"Fair enough," Ben smiled and nodded his head before going back to eating dinner, Stef stayed the rest of dinner with her arm loosely wrapped around her little brother.

* * *

When Emily arrived the next morning, Ben met her outside, "Woah Carlson," she said, "I know we said that we'll take things turtle slow, but this is kind of speeding up isn't it?"

Ben sighed, "Not you too." He said.

"Sorry." She said blushing a little. "What's up?"

"You remember what we talked about right?" He asked, "About us having feelings for each other, but me having a shit ton of demons to work out?" He reminded.

"Yes," she said.

"They're going to make comments, okay?" He said, "They've been making them since Stef and I picked them up at the airport. And our sisters have been egging them on."

"Well, thanks for the warning, Ben," she said warmly. "That's very thoughtful of you." She gave him a hug.

He opened the door and let her in, "It's also a little chaotic. Brandon and Callie are stressed out. Jesus and Mariana are walking on egg shells since their birth mom is sort of in the picture. Jude's trying to stay out of everybody's way. Stef and Mike are an equal emotional mess. Lena's trying to comfort Stef. And your parents and Sharon are trying to keep it all together. Please be the only sane one for me." He said all in a whisper.

"Thanks for the heads up," she said.

"Emily Mae," Dana said, "it's about time you got here."

"Hi Mom," she said hugging the older woman and kissing her cheek.

"Baby girl," Stuart said hugging his daughter and kissing her cheek.

"Hi Daddy," Emily said kissing her dad's cheek.

"Aunt Emily!" The younger twins and Jude came running up to her.

"Hi Jesus, Mariana, and Jude," she said hugging them all individually.

"Perfect baby sister," Lena said, "I need you for a second."

"I'm great big sister, how are you?" Emily said sarcastically.

"Your sarcasm is not needed, please just come with me." The older sister said, pulling her out to the front porch.

"Fine," Emily said, "but I want longer hugs from the graduates and Stef when I get back."

"You got it," the three yelled from the kitchen.

The two sisters made their way out front, "What's so important that it couldn't wait until later?"

"You're waiting for Ben to get his act together?" Lena raised her eyebrow, "You don't wait well when it comes to dating. Need I to remind you of Alex?"

"No, no need." Emily said being reminded of her abusive law school ex boyfriend. She rushed into every relationship after that way too fast.

"He's being a good guy, getting his act together before getting into a relationship, but I know you sissy," Lena said running her hand through her sister's curly hair. "You are impatient and you don't like waiting."

"I won't lie," Emily said, "it's killing me. Waiting for him to get his act together, but I really like him. Ever since that whole trial with the LA Times. I can't stop thinking of him."

"Em," Lena said. "You should tell him this."

"I don't want to push him, y'know?" She said almost crying. "He looks so well put together and then when you really started to peel back the layers, he's so broken and hurt. It hurts me just watching him breakdown."

Lena pulled her sister into her arms and sat them both on the front porch bench, "Oh sissy," Lena cooed.

"Then he does stuff like send me a funny link via text message or we have this conversation about something and then he goes out of his way to go the extra mile and do a little more research about it if he doesn't fully understand it. He's a good guy and I'm starting to really fall for him."

"Have you told him any of this?" Lena asked.

"To be told that he's not ready?" Emily asked. ""That'll just hurt me all over again."

"Okay, okay," Lena said now rocking her and her sister back and forth. "You're going to go into a panic attack if you're not careful." She said softly to her sister. "Breathe for me, sissy. Breathe."

"Why does it have to be like this?" She asked. "I finally find a good guy and he has to be weighted down by demons. Demons that should've never come."

"He's seeking professional help," Lena said, running fingers through her hair. "Just give it a few more months. The nightmares are settling down. He hasn't called us in the middle of the night in over a week."

"Because he doesn't want to bother you," Emily said. "The nightmares are still there."

"How do you know?" Lena asked. "He doesn't call you, does he?" Emily looked up at her sister and bit her lip, "Oh my god," she said. "That boy." Lena muttered.

"He doesn't want to feel like he's bugging you." Emily defended the man, "he knows you and Stef have lives that you have to live. And he doesn't want to interrupt that. He feels bad that he calls me at three in the morning."

"He knows that we're always there for him," Lena said. "Always."

"He knows that, but he also knows that you two are moms with kids who _need_ you. He doesn't want to get in the way of that."

"Do you help him through his post-nightmare panic attacks?" Lena asked, running her fingers through her sister's curls.

The younger sister nodded, "I do." She said. "It's not as easy as when you used to do it with me when I was younger."

"It's different being on this side of the line." Lena said, remembering calming her baby sister down like she used to. "I had to keep myself from crying every time I had to calm you down."

"What about Ben?" Emily asked looking up at her big sister.

"I have to hold myself together all the time," Lena said. "He's so vulnerable in my arms when I hold him after words, I've never seen a man try so hard to break the stereotype of men can't be weak."

"He's a good role model for the kids, especially the boys." Emily said.

"He really is and I just wanted to make sure you were actually willing to wait for him. I know you don't like to wait," Lena said holding her sister.

"I'm willing to wait for Benjamin Carlson," she said. "I'll wait to the end of the world if it means that we work." Lena kissed the top of her baby sister's head, "Though, why do you make fun of him about it?"

"Because it's cute to watch him blush and watch him squirm like he does." Lena answered. "And because he makes fun of me and Stef all the time like you do."

The two sister shared a small laugh before getting up and going inside to their family.

* * *

Ben didn't know why, but graduations always made him feel the change in the air. Here over 100 Anchor Beach students will be off to their own new adventures in a matter of a month or two and he felt the change in the air. The grandparents, Mike, and Stef were looking for seats. Lena was on the campus doing her principal graduation duties. Emily was running a little behind schedule and the younger twins were off talking with respective friends leaving Ben and Jude looking out at the ocean.

"This is my favorite part of this school," Jude said. "Every lunch listening to the sounds of the ocean."

"Yeah, the ocean is a beautiful thing." Ben said. "Not that I mind, but don't you have friends that you could be hanging out with?"

"The only friend I really have can't hang out with me," Jude said. "Because his dad thinks that I'm gay."

"Really?" Ben asked putting his arm around his youngest nephew as he nodded, "That sucks. Not that it matters, but are you?"

"I don't know," Jude said. "I just am tired of labels, y'know? Why does everybody have to go around labeling everybody?" Ben nodded his head just listening to the boy, he figured that he'd let him vent before he does his whole uncle advice thing that he's found himself doing with the Adams Foster children. "I just miss my friend." Jude said. "It's not fair. Why does this world have to be so cruel?" The boy looked up at his uncle with tears in his eyes.

Ben wrapped his arm tighter around the boy, "When my brother Leo was about your age he went through the same thing," the man said to the somewhat distraught boy in his arm. "I would watch him watch my moms be so comfortable with each other. You're 13 yes?" Ben asked and received a nod from Jude, "Yeah, that's how old he was when he started to question everything. He had been safely adopted into our family for five years by that point, but was still scared that if he acted upon what he was feeling they would disown him. You're not afraid of that with your moms are you?"

He shook his head, "No, I know that they'll love me no matter what." He said.

"You just want to be sure that you know?" Ben asked and Jude nodded, "You want to know what you are to me?" He asked, Jude's eyes lit up as he nodded, "You're my nephew. You're the coolest kid I know. You've been through a lot. And you're going to do a lot of great things. I know it."

"Thanks Uncle Ben," Jude said as somebody came up behind them. "Hey Mom," Jude said to Stef who kissed his head.

"Hey baby," she said. "We have seats, the ceremony is about to start."

"Okay," Jude said as he walked into the general direction in where his grandparents were seated leaving the sister-brother duo by themselves.

"You doing okay?" Stef asked as she wrapped her arm around the man.

Ben nodded, "Yeah," he said not really wanting to share about the moment he had just had with Jude. "You ready to watch your babies graduate?"

"Don't remind me." She said playfully leading him to the saved seats.

* * *

Lena was standing about ready to introduce the student class nominated speaker, "So in true Anchor Beach tradition, the faculty, administration, and staff, do not know who the graduating class nominated to speak until I get up here and announce them." She chuckled, "I'm not sure why this is a tradition, but it's been around longer than I have, so I kept it when I became principal ten years ago. I'm always up for surprises anyhow." She joked. "This year," she stopped looking at the name and smiling softly to herself before continuing, "This year our student nominated speaker is by pure happenstance one of my own. They have been coming to this school since kindergarten and have great things ahead of them. They've been through their fair share of trials and tribulation, but have taken it with nothing, but grace and love. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm absolutely proud to introduce to you, Brandon Foster."

Brandon walked up to the stage, in his cap and grown, and hugged Lena kissing her cheek before taking the podium to say his speech, "Thank you Principal Adams Foster or as I'm one of five of the luckiest people on Earth, who gets to call you, Mama." He smiled back at her before continuing, "Good afternoon Anchor Beach faculty, administration, teachers, my fellow graduating class, my family, friends, and my graduating class' family and friends. It's an honor to stand up here today."

"This is where I would say some corny quote about us moving forward in our lives, but I think I know our graduating class a little better than to do that. Y'see, a lot of us have been under this administration and the reigns of Principal Adams Foster for the last ten to thirteen years. We've had many adventures together, but we couldn't have done them without the following people."

Brandon cleared his throat, "From scavenger hunts on the beach in history with Mr. Gilmore and Mrs. Rodriguez. From pep rallies with Mrs. Brown to finding our way through Shakespearean times with Timothy and Mrs. Tyler. Our formative, academic years would not be the same without their love for us and their support through it all. So to all the teachers sitting out there, on behalf of our graduating class, thank you."

Brandon nervously adjusted his tie, "We also couldn't do it without the love and support of our families. Our parents and our siblings. My moms and dad never gave me and my twin sister anything to ever worry about. They always made sure we were clothed, fed, well rested, and whether we liked it or not made sure we did our homework. They drug us out of bed morning after morning to make sure we could be educated individuals to contribute to society. So as I thank Michael Foster and Stefanie and Lena Adams Foster, I say on behalf of all the students out there to their parents, thank you."

He found his mom and dad's watery eyes out in the crowd, "Mom, Dad, thank you." He then turned to where Lena was sitting behind him and looked into her equally watery eyes and said, "Mama, thank you."

"But, there's one more group of people, I'd like to thank and many people don't think about this when they're asked to write a speech on behalf of their peers, but I want to thank this graduating class." There was becoming to not be a dry eye in the general area as he continued, "We never always got along, but we always had each other's back. From senior sunrise to kickoff this school year to last night's senior sunset to close it out. From most of our kindergarten years to our senior years, this graduating class made it easier to come to this mandatory education every single day. So thank you."

"To close my speech out, I was watching that 90's sitcom with my uncle last night because neither one of could sleep, the teacher guy, I think his name was Mr. Feeny, he said something that has stuck with me throughout today, he said, 'Believe in yourselves. Dream. Try. Do good.' And as we go out and off into our separate paths in life. That's what I challenge my graduating class to do. Believe in yourselves, Anchor Beach Community Charter School Class of 2014! Dream! Try! Do good!" He finished his speech by saying one more thing, "We weren't made to do mediocre, so go out and change the world." He through his pointer finger out and pointed to his graduating class, "I believe in each and every single one of you."

"To us and to our future!" He ended with his fist up in the air, earning a roar from his fellowing graduating class. "Congratulations to each and every single one of you! And thank you!"

He walked off the stage and Lena took the podium again, "It's hard to believe that he's the same boy that came into Anchor Beach and barely said a word," she joked.

* * *

Celebration parties for the Adams Foster family always seemed to end up at Ben's house along the ocean. Neither Stef nor Lena minded.

Ben was behind the barbecue when Mike approached him, "So," the older man said, "introducing my kid to the beauty of Boy Meets World, huh?" he asked.

Ben chuckled, "Neither one of us could really sleep." He admitted. "And reruns were on. I grew up with Mr. Feeny being a better father figure than my own father was."

"Frank was a good man though," Mike said. "Despite his flaws."

"Yeah," Ben said focusing on the cooking, talking about his dad always was a sore spot for him considering their last conversation being about how hypocritical Frank was when it came to his faith. Little did he know, Stef's last conversation with their shared father was basically to take the car and shove it.

"Thanks for being a good role model to my kids for the last couple of months." Mike then said, "It means a lot."

"Yeah definitely," he said. "Thanks for warming up to the idea of letting Stef let me be around your kids."

"For sure," Mike said. "So I hear you're a Dodgers fan."

Ben chuckled, "Born and pretty much raised in LA." He said, "You a Padres fan?"

"Oh god no," he said. "Frank was a good man, but like I said he had his flaws. Dodgers all the way," he said punching Ben's shoulder playfully.

"I knew there was a reason why I liked you." Ben said with a soft smile.

Mike chuckled, "Yeah, next time the boys in blue are in town, let's go to a game." He said.

"It looks like Brandon will be in LA when I bought tickets for me, Stef, and the boys. So his ticket is up for grabs, if you want it."

Mike nodded, "Yeah, cool" He said. "Count me in."

Ben nodded and continued cooking.

* * *

Laughter filled the backyard as the night progressed on, Brandon and Callie had left for the Anchor Beach grad night, but the family was still laughing and having a good time.

Ben slipped inside to get another beer and everybody saw Emily watching him walk in.

"Y'know honey," Sharon said, "the longer you just stare at him and not tell him how you feel, the longer it's going to hurt you."

"I'm not hurt," Emily said with everybody giving her the 'cut the bs' look, "I'm learning how to be patient."

"And that's all fine and good baby sister," Lena said, "but you need to talk to him about how you feel."

"I don't want to be rejected." She said. "So I'm good holding it in."

"Whatever you say little sister," Stef said. "Being honest is the only way you can take care of you."

As they fell back into small conversation, Ben came out of the house looking extremely pale, "What's going on bro?" Stef asked watching him.

"My mama had a heart attack." He managed to get out. "I gotta get to LA."

* * *

**A/N2:** Sorry about that little cliffhanger. Among everything else, I want to explore Stef and Ben's relationship getting a little deeper as well as Lena and Ben's, and speeding up the pace of him and Emily getting together a little. I have things in mind.

I hope you stick with me as the story takes a minor shift into a deep next couple of chapters.


	10. The Road To Living Once

**A/N:** This chapter begins exactly where last chapter ended, except you get to see the phone call Ben received and obviously what happens right after that.

Thank you again for the support and for sticking with me.

* * *

**Chapter Ten: The Road To Living Once**

Laughter filled the backyard as the night progressed on, Brandon and Callie had left for the Anchor Beach grad night, but the family was still laughing and having a good time.

Ben slipped inside to get another beer, unaware of the conversation going on about him out there. As he grabbed his second Sam Adams from the refrigerator, he felt his phone vibrate. He looked to see who it was and was surprised to see his brother calling him. Especially on a Friday night when he's usually out with his boyfriend and their friends.

"Hey Leo," Ben said. "What's up?"

_"Mama had a heart attack." The teenage boy said frantically._

"What?" Ben asked in a hurry. "When?"

_"Just now, I guess. I just got a call from Mom telling me to meet her, Leah, and Mama at the UCLA Medical Center because Mama had a heart attack. She also told me to call you."_

"The UCLA Medical Center?" Ben asked to clarify.

_"Yeah, I'm on my way now." Leo said._

"Okay, I'll be there in two and a half hours tops." He said.

_"Sounds good." Leo said._

Ben walked out of the house looking extremely pale, "What's going on bro?" Stef asked watching him.

"My mama had a heart attack." He managed to get out. "I gotta get to LA."

"What?" Both Stef and Lena said in unison.

Ben was shaking and they both saw that, Lena immediately went to his side pulling him into a hug, "It's going to be okay." She whispered in his ear. "It's fine."

"Lena and I will drive you," Stef then said. "If you four could keep the fort down back here," Stef said to her in-laws, mother, and Mike.

"I'll come with you," Emily said, knowing that Ben would do the same for her if this was her own mother.

"Sounds good," Stef said. "You can navigate while Lena keeps him calm."

"Deal," she said.

* * *

Lena handed Dana the keys to her car as Stef got Ben into the Terrian. Mike took the younger twins and the grandparents had Jude.

"Call us to keep us updated," Sharon requested.

"Will do," Stef said. "When Brandon and Callie get home tomorrow morning let them know."

"Done," Sharon said. "Now get that boy to his mama."

"Equally done." She said. Stef got into the driver's seat and saw Ben curled into Lena, "Ben honey," she said, "where am I going in LA?"

"The UCLA Medical Center," he said as Stef headed towards the freeway.

Lena had her arms tightly wrapped around Ben, Emily was messing with her phone, and Stef was focused on her driving. It was quiet minus the sounds of the radio until Ben buried his face into Lena's chest and let out a choked sob.

"It's okay Ben," Lena said, "let it out. Let it go."

All that could be heard was him crying, Leo didn't have much information to give him, and Ben was just assuming the worst. When his phone rang ten minutes into the drive, he pulled his phone out of his pocket seeing that his mom was calling him.

"Mom," he got out. "How is she?"

_"She's in surgery right now, are you on your way?" Kelly asked._

"Yeah," he said. "Stef is driving."

_"Okay, alright," Kelly said. "It's okay, we've been through this before."_

"And we almost lost her the last time too," he said.

_"We aren't losing her Benji," she said, "we can't."_

"We'll-we'll be there soon." He said as Lena ran and comforting hand down his arm.

_"Okay," she said. "I love you Benji."_

"I love you too, Mom." He said before hanging up.

"This has happened before?" Stef asked from the front seat.

"Yeah," he said. "The night of my high school graduation."

"Oh honey," Lena said kissing his forehead. "I'm so sorry."

Ben buried his face into Lena's chest and the car fell silent, Stef had to fill up the car with gas so she pulled off the freeway and as she did that Emily got out of the car to get some air.

"Hey little sister," Stef came around and put her arms around the lawyer. "What's going on?"

"What if something happens to either one of us before we have a chance to get together?" She asked quietly as she looked in the back of the car to see Lena still comforting and slightly distraught Ben.

"Oh honey," Stef said.

"I know I shouldn't be thinking about that right now because he has major things going on, but that's all that's on my mind currently."

"Em," Stef said brushing curls out of her face, "it's okay. It's fine."

"I just needed some air," Emily said as she leaned forward into Stef's chest, "Sometimes my thoughts get overwhelming."

"Well you let me know if they get overwhelming again, yes?" Stef said, "Just get me attention and I'll do the best I can to help you through." Emily nodded as the gas pump popped. Emily let go of Stef and got into the car.

Lena had managed to get Ben to take a small nap, knowing that he might not sleep tonight, "You okay sissy?" Lena asked.

"I will be," she said.

"What's wrong honey?" Lena asked leaning forward and placed her hand on the woman's shoulder.

"It's not important right now Lena," she said as Stef got into the car. "We'll talk about it later."

"Okay," Lena said not pushing the subject.

"Alrighty folks," Stef said, "let's get this show on the road. How's the big guy doing back there?"

"I got him to go to sleep for a little while, since we know it's going to be a long night." Lena said gesturing to the deadweight on her shoulder.

"Aww," Stef said grabbing her phone and taking a picture, "if I didn't know any better I'd say mother and son."

Lena softly smiled to her wife, but then a pang went into her heart, she's always wanted to carry a baby, but then she met Stef who already had Brandon and Callie and then Jesus and Mariana came along and then Jude not all that long ago. They couldn't afford a baby. They have five kids, sure two of them were moving out and going on these separate journeies, but she knew that she and Stef couldn't afford a little helpless child who needed them.

"I was 16 when he was born," Lena said, "please don't tell me that you're endorsing teenage pregnancies."

Stef let out a chuckle, "It was a joke my love. Just a joke." She said.

Lena looked down at the sleeping man on her shoulder and ran fingers through his hair. She was thankful that he was letting her in even just a little. To trust her enough to hold him in his most vulnerable position made her proud.

* * *

When they got to the UCLA Medical Center, Ben still hadn't heard anything from his mom or siblings. He practically ran up to the ICU to meet them.

"Mom," he said running into the room and crashing into her in a hug.

"Hi Benji." She said softly.

He pulled back and brushed some hair out of her face, "How are things?" He asked as Stef, Lena, and Emily came out of the elevator.

"She's still in surgery." She said, "We're waiting to hear from the doctor." She said running her hands up and down his dress shirt. None of them had changed from the graduation. "You look nice," she said referring to his dress shirt and dress slacks, "You weren't working tonight were you?"

"Uh no," he said looking over his shoulder at his sister, sister-in-law, and Emily. "Brandon and Callie graduated from Anchor Beach tonight."

"Oh," Kelly said running her hand through her hair. "Your siblings want to see you."

Ben looked up and saw the two staring at him, he opened his arms wide and Leah all, but flew into his embrace, "Hi," he said to his little sister who was crying into him.

"Big brother," she sobbed and in that moment, Ben was glad that he got all his emotions out when he was in Lena's arms in the car, he had to pull himself together for his family.

"It's going to be okay," he assured. "It's going to be okay."

"I can't lose another one," Leah mumbled.

"And you won't," Ben assured as she left his embrace so he could hug Leo, "Hey bud." He said.

"Ben," he breathed. "She can't die."

"She's not going to die, buddy." He said hugging him.

"The last conversation I had with her was an arguement. Like you and your dad. I can't let that happen to me and Mama."

"It won't I promise." He said. "What were you arguing about?"

"My future. I-I applied for West Point," he said. "Mama didn't like the sound of the idea."

As Ben tried to calm both of his siblings down Kelly turned to Stef, Lena, and Emily, "Thanks for getting him here safely."

"Any time, seriously." Stef said taking a seat. "He's a good kid."

"I apologize for taking you away from your family," Kelly said. "I'm sure you'd rather be spending it with your graduates tonight than here in a hospital in LA."

"Our graduates got on a bus at 9:00pm to come this way to Disneyland anyway." Stef said. "And our other kids are probably being spoiled by their grandparents right now."

"We just want to make sure Ben is okay," Lena said sitting next to her wife.

"Yeah, we've taken a liking to him." Stef said.

Kelly smiled and then turned to Emily, "And you must be Emily," she said.

Emily nodded and stuck out her hand, "Lena and Stef's baby sister, a friend and company lawyer to Ben." She said.

"From the way he talks about you, I'd say you were more than just a friend and company lawyer." Kelly said.

"We'll eventually get there," Emily said. "Neither one of us wants to screw it up."

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you." Kelly said shaking her hand.

"I wish the circumstances were better," Emily said with a sympathetic smile.

"Are you three ladies going to stay?" Kelly asked.

"That was the plan," Stef said putting her arm around Lena as the principal put her head on the cop's shoulder. "If that's okay?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." Kelly said. "Uh, if you get hungry, the cafeteria is down a floor and the good bathrooms are over there." She pointed in the direction where they all came. "I work here," she said to Emily when the lawyer gave her a confused look.

Emily nodded, "Oh okay." She said.

Just as she was done talking a doctor came out, "Doctor Wright-Carlson?"

"Yes, yes?" Kelly jumped up with her three kids close behind. "How is she?"

"She barely made it through surgery," he said. "She's barely stable. We have her in recovery, but she may not make it out of recovery."

"Can we see her?" Kelly asked wrapping her arm around Leah's shoulder.

"Of course, uh, immediate family only in the room though." He said primarily looking at Ben.

"I'm her son, her stepson, but still nonetheless her son." Ben said calmly.

"He is immediate family." Kelly said placing her free hand on his shoulder.

"Okay, this way." The doctor said leading the family back leaving Stef, Lena, and Emily alone.

"It's sad that we live in a world where stepchildren aren't really considered family unless their biological parent says that they are." Stef said rubbing her hand up and down Lena's arm as Emily sat on the other side of the blonde.

"Yeah," Lena said, "I would want Brandon and Callie in the room to see me."

"Callie would make sure she could be in the room, she's definitely a Mama's girl." Stef said kissing the woman's head.

"She really is," Emily said. "She does pretty much anything you asked her too."

"I do love that girl so much," Lena said.

"Why does she do practically whatever you say?" Emily asked.

"I'm not sure exactly, but it may have to do with a conversation we had one night when Mike was doing a guys night with Brandon and Stef worked the night shift."

_Flashback._

It was a Thursday night, Mike had Brandon, Stef was at work, leaving Callie with Lena. The girl had been oddly quiet all night and Lena had originally thought it was because it was her first night alone with the woman, but little did she know, it was for other reasons.

But after dinner, Lena was sitting on the couch, and Callie poked her head out, "L-lena?" She said.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Lena said looking up from her book that she was reading.

"I was wondering if," she stopped and brought her lip between her teeth.

"What honey?" Lena said softly.

"Every time Brandon has a guys night, my mommy always cuddles with me, but since she's working tonight, I-I was wondering if you and I could." Lena stared at the girl, maybe a little too long because Callie then said, "If not that's okay, I just thought I'd ask."

"No, no, honey." Lena said, spreading her arms, "c'mere." Callie didn't need to be told twice as she crawled into her mother's girlfriend's arms. The two sat in silence for awhile before Callie's body shook as she held in a sob, "What's wrong honey?" She said so softly that Callie let her tears out. Lena rocked the two back and forth for awhile successfully calming the girl down.

"You aren't here to replace Daddy are you?" She finally asked.

"What? No, honey. Not at all," Lena said holding the girl tighter.

"They're getting divorced aren't they?" Callie said.

Lena's eyes widened, Stef had yet to tell the twins about her divorcing Mike, "How did you know that?"

"I heard Mommy say something when I couldn't sleep, I was lying in bed when I heard her say that divorcing Daddy was the hardest thing she's ever had to do."

"Oh honey," Lena said wrapping her arms tighter around the girl. "I got you. I got you."

Callie cried for twenty minutes before she her crying settled into sniffles, it was another five minutes before she asked, "Are you going to leave us too?"

Lena's heart broke as she kissed the top of the girl's head before answering, "Never planning on it, sorry baby. You're stuck with me forever."

"I kind of like that," Callie admitted.

"What's that baby?" Lena asked holding her close to her chest.

"You being here forever," Callie answered. "You helped me when my arm was broken. Sometimes I do want you over my mommy," Callie said looking down, not making eye contact.

"And that's okay," Lena said kissing her forehead. "That's perfectly okay."

_End Flashback._

"We kind of made a silent vow after that to always be understanding to one another," Lena said after telling the story. "The older twins really were broken after you and Mike split up."

"I never thought of that," Stef said. "Why have you never told me about this?"

"It was my moment to share with Callie," Lena said. "You share a lot of moments with all of our kids that I don't know about. Just like I do."

"I guess that's true." Stef said playing with Lena's curls.

* * *

Ben walked into the recovery room with his family. They had been warned that there was an oxegyn tank keep Payton alive. The lawyer was have concious when they all got there.

"Hi family," Payton said weakly.

"Hi Mama," Leah said clutching onto Leo's hand.

"Hi baby," Kelly said immediately at her side.

"Hi Mama," Ben said. "How're you feeling?"

"As okay as I can possibly be right now," she said. "Hi baby boy," she said to Leo. "C'mere."

"Mama," he breathed slowly coming forward. "I love you."

"I love you too." She said hugging him as best as she could. "Whether or not you get into West Point, we'll be there."

Ben smiled at how small the 17 year old looked in their mama's arms and Leah was on the other side.

Kelly was still at her wife's side and for once the family of five was a real family again and in that moment, Ben couldn't help, but think about Emily and how maybe waiting until he got his life together wasn't the way to go about doing this whole relationship thing.

* * *

By the time Ben came out of the ICU recovery room, the sun was starting to rise over Santa Monica. He came out to see Lena asleep on Stef's shoulder and Stef nursing a cup of hospital coffee and Emily nowhere to be found.

"How is she?" Stef asked when he sat down next to her.

"Stable, a lot better than when we went in. She's going to have to take it easy for awhile. She had extremely low blood pressure. Probably from overworking."

"But, she's going to live?" Stef asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Her body is responding the way it should to everything."

"That's good," she said.

"You guys didn't have to stay." Ben said. "I know tomorrow is Brandon and Callie's graduation party."

"Lena's parents and my mom have that handled. Not to mention Mike." Stef said. "If you were to of lost your second parent in six months, I'm not sure if I would want you to handle it alone, I know for sure that Lena wouldn't have that."

"I do have a family here too," he said. "I wouldn't have handled it alone."

"You would've been the rock," Stef said put her coffee down and wrapped her free arm loosely around the man. "And we want you to know that we're here no matter what."

"I know that," he said. "I really do." Stef kissed her brother's temple. "Where's Emily?"

"She went to get something to eat not all that long ago," Stef said. "Why?"

Ben sighed, "Maybe waiting until I have everything together isn't the greatest tactic." He said. "Maybe if she's right that we can face these demons together."

"What made you think of this?" Stef asked.

"I watched my little brother fear that the last conversation that he had with our mama was an argument. Fearing that it would end for him like it ended for me with our dad." Ben said placing his head on his sister's shoulders.

"You too, huh?" Stef said kissing the top of his head.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked.

"The car Lena drives was given to us by Dad, but at first I wouldn't have it." She said playing with one of Lena's curls as the woman slept on her shoulder. "My last words to him were to basically take the car and shove it."

"Better than my last words," Ben said.

"What happened?" Stef asked.

"We were arguing about how he was keeping me a secret from you and how he was ashamed of me." He said trying to keep himself together remembering that night.

_Flashback._

"I don't even understand why I know about your daughter, but she has knows nothing about me. How is that fair?" Ben said.

"Why so she could throw my faith back in my face and tell me how much of a hypocrite that I am?" Frank argued back.

"You _are_ a hypocrite Dad." Ben said. "We live in the goddamn 21st century and you can't accept your own daughter's relationship - or _marriage._ You didn't even go to her wedding. Do you have any idea how bad she probably feels?"

"She had _everything._ A husband, a son, but then she gave it all away to be with Lena." Frank yelled. "Just like I would've taken your mother in and taken care of you both."

"Would you have, Dad?" Ben said. "Would you have taken us both in if it wasn't for Payton? Or would you be too scared to admit to your first-born child that you had another kid outside of wedlock?"

"That's not even the point." Frank said.

"Then what is, Dad? What is your goddamn point?" Ben yelled with tears in his eyes, "Since I was four and a half, all I've heard from you was how awful it was that my mom is gay and then ten years ago when Stef left her husband for her now wife, all I heard about is how she's practically a disgrace to the Elkin name. Do you want to know why I didn't add Elkin to my name when I turned 18?" He said now face-to-face with his father, "Because no matter how hard I tried, I'd _always_ be a mistake to you."

Frank looked wide-eyed at his son, "You are _not_ a disgrace to me, son." He said calmly.

"Then why haven't I met my sister? Why haven't I met her family? Huh? What's so bad about admitting that you made a mistake, but you owned up to it? Huh?"

"It's not that simple, son." Frank said looking at his son with tears in his eyes.

"What's not simple?" Ben argued, "Going to your daughter with your hat in your hand saying that I made a mistake 23 years ago and had unprotected sex, got a woman pregnant, and four and a half years later, started making up for it?" Frank stared at his son with the tears in his eyes rolling down his face and had the silence last for maybe a little too long because then Ben said, "That's what I thought, you're unbelievable."

The man picked his jacket off the chair and left the house, effectively slamming the door behind him. He was beyond mad and just needed to cool off, but when he got the call from Mariana a few days later, he realized that he might have waited too long because now he could never make up with his father.

_End Flashback._

"And when Mariana called me a few days later, I knew I was too late," he said remembering that painful conversation he had with Mariana.

_Flashback._

Ben was working on something for the website early one morning. He was attempting to concentrate knowing that he was going to go make up with his father that afternoon, but it seemed like everybody needed him.

"Hey," one of his business partners, Raider said, "did you happen to get a copy of the monthly budget report?"

"Do I look like our accountant?" He asked sarcastically not looking up from what he was doing.

"I was just curious man," Raider said. "Lighten up. You've been tense for the last few days is everything alright? Are you and Mom arguing again? You haven't been like this since the law suit against the Times."

Ben chuckled, Raider who was kicked out of his house at 17 for getting his now wife pregnant called Kelly mom and Payton mama, he would consider calling Frank dad if he wasn't so uptight.

"No," he answered. "My dad and I are actually arguing."

"Really?" Raider asked. "About what if I may ask."

"About how much he's a hypocrite." Ben answered drinking his coffee. "He basically all, but disowned his daughter for being gay and what it seems like happily married to her wife, but how because of that he's ashamed of me and won't introduce us."

"Wow," Raider said running his hand through his mid-length hair. "That sucks."

"Yeah," Ben said as his cellphone rang. "Imagine how I feel." He added looking at the number, "who is this?" He asked himself as he looked at the number he didn't recognize, he answered with his grown up professional voice, "This is Benjamin Carlson, how can I help you?"

_"Hi, uh, my name is Mariana and I was calling to let you know that Frank Elkin died."_

Ben's eyes widened, "I'm sorry?"

_"We have his address book here and you were in it, we figured you were in his life, so we thought we'd let you know that he passed away yesterday afternoon."_

"Uhh okay, wow. Um, is there going to be like a memorial service or whatever he wanted?" Ben asked trying to act like he didn't know his own father that well.

_"Yes, uh, it's going to be Saturday at 11:00am at Mount Hope Christian Fellowship." Mariana said._

Ben could tell that the girl on the other line was trying to keep herself together, "Well thank you, uh what did you say your name was again?"

_"Mariana." She answered. "I was his granddaughter."_

"Well thank you for the call, Mariana." Ben said running a shaky hand through his hair.

_"You're welcome," Mariana said. "Have a good day."_

"You too," Ben said hanging up after saying goodbye and he threw his phone on the desk and looked out his office window.

"What's going on man?" Raider asked cautiously.

Raider has known Ben since preschool, they went through elementary school and middle school together, but when Ben was on the fast-track to graduate at 15, they weren't as close, but when Raider finished his BA in three years, they got closer, but not close enough for him to watch his friend of close to 20 years breakdown right in front of him. Ben slid to the sitting position crying into his dress pants.

Raider went to sit next to the man and reasked his question, "Bro, what's going on?"

"My dad, he died." Was all that Ben could get out.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry." Raider said after just hearing about their last conversation.

"You think I could get a minute? Y'know to pull myself together before our all staff meeting?" Ben asked in a small voice that Raider had never heard before.

"Of course," Raider said standing up from the chair he sat in when Ben was on the phone.

Raider left Ben in his office alone were the man just silently cried for a few minutes before getting up, slipping unnoticed into the bathroom, and slashing water on his face before going into the conference room to do the all staff meeting."

_End Flashback._

"That's why I don't think waiting until I get my act together before getting together with Emily is a good thing." He said standing up. "I guess if she can't take me as I am, then it isn't meant to be."

"I'm proud of you bro." Stef said, "Go get your girl."

Ben nodded and started walking in the direction of the cafeteria and then he turned back, "And for the record, everything Dad said about you, isn't true. Your love to Lena and your kids gives me hope."

Stef smiled with tears in her eyes to her brother as she whispered, "Thank you."

* * *

Emily was nursing a cup of coffee in the cafeteria looking at the sunrise over Santa Monica outside the windows of the UCLA Medical Center.

"That was my only favorite part about studying in here." Ben said making Emily's eyes go from the sunrise to him.

"Yeah, it's beautiful." Emily said. "The coffee could be a little better though."

"Yeah, that was one of the downsides about always studying here." He said. "This room was my home away from home during undergrad."

Emily nodded and looked at him, "How's your mama?" She asked.

Ben nodded, "Stable, she's going to have to slow down a little," he answered.

"That's always good news." Emily said.

"I know things with my mama may have caused this, but you've been a little distant since last night," he said. "Is everything okay between us?"

"Yeah, of course." Emily said. "I just know you needed space, I was going to be here when you were ready to talk and whatnot."

Ben smiled as one of the kitchen staff saw him and put coffee in front of him, "Benji," the woman said, "it's been awhile. I hear your mama is here."

"Yeah," he said. "She'll be good as new as soon as she recovers."

"That's good to hear." The woman said. "The coffee is on us."

"Thank you, Ms. Goodman." He said smiling softly up at her, "I appreciate it."

"Who is this young woman?" The woman asked.

"Uh this is Emily Adams, a really good friend of mine. Emily, this is Ms. Goodman, she's been on kitchen staff here as long as my mom's been working here."

"It's really nice to meet you, Ms. Goodman." Emily said.

"Likewise," she said. "I'll let you two get back to your conversation, I just wanted to give you some coffee and say hi. It was nice meeting you young lady. You take care of this one," she added.

"I will, thank you." Emily said. "It was nice meeting you too."

The woman walked away and Ben said, "Look, I don't want to wait anymore."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"I mean, if I'm going to walk through this dark valley, I want you there with me, holding my hand, getting through it with me." Ben said. "I realized some time between Leo calling me and seeing my moms together again tonight that we have this one life. And I don't want to spend it regretting that I didn't get to you sooner."

"What are you saying?" Emily asked.

"I'm saying, can you and I give it a try?" He asked, "Will you Emily Mae Adams, be my girlfriend?"

Emily smiled and leaned forward and softly kissed him, "I thought you'd never ask." She said resting her forehead against his.

He kissed her one more time before saying, "Stef and Lena are going to make fun of us big time."

Emily smiled, "Yeah, they are, but I think I can handle that."

* * *

When Ben and Emily returned to the ICU waiting room holding hands, they saw Lena awake and drinking the rest of Stef's crappy hospital coffee. Stef was the first one to see them and said, "About damn time."

Lena looked up from the coffee at the younger couple and smiled, "Couldn't you two hold out just for another month or two?" She joked.

"Huh?" Both Ben and Emily said as they saw Lena fishing out her wallet and handing Stef twenty bucks.

"You two were betting against when we would get together?" Ben asked incredulously.

"That sounds like something you two would do," Emily said.

"Yeah, it was twenty bucks and a month of nightly back rubs for Stef if you two got together before the summer started or ended or vice versa if it was after the summer, but before the end of the year was over." Lena answered.

"So which one of you do I have to thank?" Stef said putting her arm around her wife.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked. "It was a mutual decision and you knew I was going to go do it." He added looking at Stef.

"You did?" Lena asked accusingly.

Stef nodded, "I did," she said cockily. "That's _two_ months of nightly back rubs, my dear."

"There was more to this bet?" Emily asked as she and Ben sat across from the couple.

"Yeah, if Ben asked it was two months, if you asked it was just one. It was more of him growing a pair to ask." Stef said.

"You two are unbelievable." Ben said. "Betting against your siblings' love life." He shook his head.

"What can we say?" Stef asked. "You two are just so freaking adorable together," she said with Lena nodding in agreement.

The four shared a small laugh as they all sat in the waiting room for a little while longer before Kelly came out and told them all that they should head back to San Diego to get real sleep and spend more time with Lena and Emily's parents and Stef's mom.

* * *

**A/N 2:** So Ben and Emily are together now, but it's just a start to a long roller coaster ride of ups and downs. I just wanted to speed up that process to play with other arcs. All the other kids and the grandparents will be in the next chapter for Brandon and Callie's graduation party.


	11. The Road To Love

**A/N:** Thank you so much for your support. Much appreciated.

**Warning Note:** Mention of past domestic violence is mentioned in small detail in this chapter and statutory rape is briefly mentioned, no detail. I apologize in advance if it triggers anybody.

We're mainly getting to know Ben and Emily in this chapter, but don't worry, before Callie goes off to college, we'll have a family scene again. I just want to peel back the layers of Benjamin Carlson and Emily Adams for a chapter. :)

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: The Road To Love**

When the four arrived back to the Adams Foster house, it was already well known that Ben and Emily were together. The jokes went around about how it's about time and freaking adorable they were together. Ben was sitting in the kitchen nook when Brandon stumbled into the room with a goofy looking grin on his face.

The teenager plopped down next to the man and said, "So, you and Aunt Emily, huh?"

Ben looked up from his phone where he was watching a Dodger game quietly away from his sister, "Uh yeah," he said to his nephew. "It's officially official," he said in a joking matter.

"What are you watching?" Brandon asked curiously.

"The Dodger-Mets game, but since we're not in LA and the Padres are playing the Giants, I have to watch it on my phone and I don't want your mother and my sister to know because I don't need to be made fun of."

"She just does it because she loves you," Brandon said softly.

Ben sighed, "Yeah, I know," he said.

"May I ask you something?" Brandon asked.

"Sure," Ben said, closing out of the app that the game was playing on, talking with his nephew was more important.

"This whole LA thing with my band, do you think it's a good idea?" Brandon asked. "I mean, I've never known a world without my parents and Callie."

Ben smiled, he remembered the same conversation with his mama right before he left for San Diego to Los Angeles.

"Y'know, I had the same question when I moved here full time." Ben said wrapping a protective arm around his nephew. "I never knew a world without my mom every week. I had gotten used to going to my dad's on the weekend, but I was always back in LA by Sunday night."

"Yeah?" Brandon said, somewhat intrigued by how much his uncle's story related to him currently.

Ben nodded, "And then the night before I moved into the dorms, I was sitting in my room playing video games and my mama came in and we had a similar conversation."

"What did she say to you?" Brandon asked.

"That there's 121 miles between Los Angeles and San Diego, there's video chat, and a telephone. And that if I don't take this opportunity to chase after my dreams, I'll never do it."

"So what are you telling me?" Brandon asked.

"That I want my arts and entertainment editor and reporters talking about Someone's Little Sister on _The Opinionated Buzz_ by the end of the year."

"Wow, the pressure." Brandon said.

"I've heard your guys' demo." Ben said, "You're good kid. This band has potential to be good. You just need to believe."

Brandon smiled, "Thanks Uncle Ben," he said. "You're so wise, y'know?" He said.

"I try to learn from life experiences," Ben said. "Makes you a better person. More than just a tolerable person in society."

Brandon smiled and nodded, "I'll let you get back to your game," he said as Stef walked in.

"What game?" Stef asked raising an eyebrow.

"The Dodger-Mets game," Brandon said passing his mom giving her a kiss on the cheek, "Go easy on him." He said softly.

Stef smiled and sat down next to her brother and put her head on his shoulder, "Hey Stef," Ben said wrapping his arm around her shoulders while resting his head on top of hers.

"Hi Ben," Stef said looking down at his phone where the game was on. "Dodgers winning?"

"Yeah 9-2, top of the eighth." He said before looking at her, "Why?" He asked curiously.

"Just curious," she said.

Ben looked at her curiously, "So what's up?" He asked.

"Just wanted to check in, see how things were." Stef said.

Ben slowly rubbed his hand up and down, "I'm fine." He said. "I got a call from my mom, they're transferring my mama out of the ICU this afternoon."

"That's good," Stef said looking into the kitchen to see Lena and Emily talking about something, "In all seriousness, I'm proud of you."

Ben chuckled as he watched the outfielder for the Dodgers hit a grand slam, "What for?" He asked.

"Asking Emily out," she said.

Ben shrugged, "I'm just glad she said yes," he said, "well technically she said yes." He smiled remembering the words coming out of her mouth, "She actually said, _'I thought you'd never ask.'_ After she kissed me."

Stef smiled at how Lena said the exact same thing when she proposed to her in the hospital bed, "Sisters," she murmured.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked turning off the game to give his sister his full undivided attention.

"When I proposed to Lena those were the exact words that came out of her mouth." Stef said. "Sisters," she murmured again.

"Yeah," he said with a faint smile, "sisters."

"You better be good to her though," Stef said. "If you're not, I'll kick your ass."

"You're protective of her," he mentioned. "Not that it's a bad thing, but why?"

"That's her story to tell," she said, looking into the kitchen to see that Emily was now cuddled into Lena's arms.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the sisters were sitting drinking a cup of coffee. It was rare that they got to catch up like they were now. There was 13 years between the woman, so Lena practically raised her sister, even when she was in college when her parents worked long hours. It bonded them close together.

"So," Lena said, "you happy?"

Emily nodded, "I am," she said. "I honestly thought I would have to wait until the end of the year."

"He's a good guy," Lena said looking over her sister's shoulder to see both Ben and Stef cuddled in the kitchen nook.

"He really is," Emily said looking into her coffee.

"You know that Stef and I are still here for him and that you won't ever have to deal with whatever demons are inside of him alone, yes?"

"Yes sissy," Emily murmured. "I know. I just hope it doesn't turn out like the whole Alex situation."

Lena sighed, during law school, Emily dated a fellow law student named Alex, and at first he seemed like an okay guy. He came around a couple of times, both Lena and Stef felt something off about him and when they shared their concerns with Emily, she dismissed them. But there was a six month period of time where they hadn't heard from her at all. At first they played it off as the three of them were busy, but finally something in Lena's gut didn't feel right. Then when the situation reached Emily's breaking point, the young woman came running back to both her sister and sister-in-law and for the six months following, Emily rarely left Stef and Lena's side.

"You know that Stef will kick his ass if he lays a finger on you," Lena said coming around to wrap her arm around her baby sister. "I know it's scary." She whispered into her sister's ear. "To let people in when the first time you ever did, you got hurt. And I'm so sorry you had to go through that, but Ben isn't that guy."

"I should've listened to you." Emily said into Lena's shoulder. "I should've-"

"Hey now," Lena whispered into her baby sister's ear, "none of that. It's in the past now."

"Why is your and Stef's arms the safest place to be in?" Emily asked.

"Not sure," Lena said, "but it's nice to have you back in my arms."

"I feel like being in this position with Stef is how she and I became sisters," Emily said softly.

_Flashback._

"Lena!" A 18 year old version of Emily came running into the Adams Foster home, "Lena!" She cried again.

Both Lena and Stef poked their heads out of the kitchen where they were most likely making out like teenagers before they heard the cry of Emily Mae Adams.

"Honey," Lena said, "what's wrong?"

When the couple got to the distraught girl, they saw her limping and a black eye, Stef's defenses went up, "What happened?" Stef asked firmly.

"Stef," Emily said, "I-I didn't know you were here."

"It's my day off," Stef said, "What happened?" Stef asked again slowly.

"Emily honey," Lena said softer than her wife's question, "what happened?"

"He hurt me," Emily breathed.

Lena immediately wrapped her sister in her arms and whispered that it was okay, that he wasn't going to hurt her again. Stef was trying to calm herself down before she got to sister-in-law. When the blonde did calm down, she crouched in front of where the two sisters were sitting.

"Emily," she said softly, "could you look at me?" Emily buried her face further into Lena's chest and shook her head. "Honey," Stef breathed. "Please?" She asked again.

"Stef isn't going to hurt you sissy." Lena whispered, "She just wants to help."

Emily slowly made eye contact with Stef before the police officer asked, "How long?"

"Six months," Emily answered.

Stef took a deep breath and then said, "We're going to have to report it and until we can get a restraining order and him in jail, we are going to need you to stay here with us, okay?"

"But, what about my stuff?" Emily asked, "He moved in with me three months ago."

"Let me deal with that," Stef said, "but let _us_ take care of _you._"

"Don't fight her honey," Lena said.

Emily looked at her sister's girlfriend of three years. They pretty much were married in her mind, Emily liked Stef a lot better than Gretchen and a lot better than any other woman her sister had dated. In an odd way, Stef made her feel safe and wanted. Something she didn't feel after Lena left for California from the midwest with their parents.

The young woman looked with tears in her eyes at Stef and said, "Okay." As Stef kissed Emily's forehead, she added, "Just keep me safe."

Stef put her hand underneath Emily's chin and said, "I promise you that as long as I'm in love with your sister, I will keep you safe."

"Which is forever, just so you know," Lena added kissing her sister's forehead.

Emily stared into Stef's equally watery eyes and knew that in that moment, she went from sister-in-law to sister to Stef. And for the next six months, Stef always took her to school and walked her to class and Lena always picked her up from her last class and took her home.

_End Flashback._

"Yeah," Lena said, "you knew she loved you before then, she just showed it a little better after Alex."

Emily nodded and looked over her shoulder to see Ben and Stef still cuddled up in the kitchen nook, "They look so sweet together."

"Yeah," Lena said, "they act so tough for the world, but if you break them down they're really two of the softest people you'll ever meet."

* * *

The next afternoon, Stef, Lena, and Mike were sitting in the kitchen across from Brandon, Lou, and the rest of the band talking details about their move to LA.

"So you guys have a definite place to stay yes?" Stef asked looking specifically at Brandon who said they did.

"My uncle owns an apartment complex on the outskirts of LA," Lou said. "And got us a two bedroom, one bath unit. The three guys will take over the bigger of the two rooms and rent will be cheap."

"And studio time?" Mike asked.

"Another uncle of mine is a music producer," Lou said, "he said that he could get us in, low budget until we get off the ground. We just need to go once Brandon turns 18 to sign the record deal."

"Why do you have to wait until Brandon turns 18?" Lena asked.

"With all due respect, Mrs. and Mrs. Adams Foster, Mr. Foster," Mat stepped in gently, "we don't want to have to deal with parental agreements because he's still a minor for another month and a half."

"It's just easier if we wait until I turn 18," Brandon said. "That way I can legally live on my own and be an adult."

"That makes sense," Lena said, finding Stef's hand under the table.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Mike asked Brandon.

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life." Brandon said.

Mike made eye contact with his ex wife, "Then okay," he said. "We're happy for you."

Stef smiled and nodded, "Just promise to come home as much as you can," she said.

"You do know that you have three other children and you shouldn't be getting empty nest syndrome this quickly?" Callie said walking into the room to get a water.

Everybody except Stef laughed and Lena pressed a kiss to her wife's cheek, "She has a point." She whispered. "She doesn't get it, but she has a point."

* * *

The graduation party was in full swing, the Adams Foster family was surrounded by friends and family. Ben had taken over the barbecuing responsibilities from Stef so she could mingle with their guests more. Stef and Lena were talking among friends as Brandon and the band were playing. Callie was hanging out with her soccer friends and the younger twins with friends of their own. Jude was standing with Ben at the barbecue pit.

"You alright buddy?" Ben asked his nephew.

"Yeah," he said. "A little bored."

"Making friends is hard, isn't it?" Ben asked as he flipped a burger over.

Jude nodded, "Yeah," he said, "none of these people are here for me though."

"Hand me the plate," Ben said as Jude handed him the plate he said, "Making friends is probably the hardest thing I did when I went to college at 15."

"Really?" Jude asked.

Ben nodded, "The average freshman was 18, if they weren't 17. I lived on campus because my dad didn't want Stef to know of my existence. So I had to really get out of my shell."

"How'd you do it?" Jude asked.

"One time at lunch, I saw this kid sitting by himself and I sat down next to him. And it turned into a friendship and a business partnership that I'll never regret. There's four of us that head up _The Opinionated Buzz._ I've known two out of three of my business partners since my years at the prep school I went to, but Levi Todd was a college buddy of mine. He was like me."

"What do you mean?" Jude asked.

"He was 15, in college, pursuing a degree in journalism and just wanted to change the world like I did." Ben said. "Sometimes all you need to do is just take a step of faith and sit next to that kid at school who doesn't have a friend. Good things could come out of it."

"I'll have to remember that when school is back in session." Jude said smiling a little at his uncle.

"Sometimes you gotta be vulnerable and stick yourself out there long enough for luck to find you," Ben said. "It's not always going to be easy, but it'll be worth it."

Jude smiled as Ben ruffled his hair and continued scooping burgers onto a plate.

* * *

Later that evening, Ben was sitting with Emily on the back porch swing. Emily was cuddled underneath Ben's arm and he was playing with her curls.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Emily asked.

"Of course," he said, gently kissing her forehead.

"I've never been good at this," she began, "relationships. Stef and Lena could tell you that."

"Stef said that if I hurt you that she'll kick my ass," he said. "What happened?"

"When I was in law school, I had to take this boring family law class. I mean it was insightful, if I wanted to be a family lawyer, but it was boring. My focus was business and corporate law. And I met this guy his name was Alexander Rogers. He seemed so sweet and like he wouldn't hurt me. Stef and Lena warned me not to date him, but I did anyway. He uh physically abused me and ever since then I've had these one nights stands or short term relationships to try to mask the pain away. But, it didn't help. Stef and Lena are protective. And even that's the understatement of the century. But, they care. She just doesn't want to see me where they saw me seven years ago."

"And they won't," Ben said, "because I'm not going to lay a finger on you to harm you. I'm not that kind of guy."

"I know you're not," Emily said, "but you should know that, I'm scared as hell."

"About us?" Ben asked and she nodded. "Me too."

"You are?" Emily asked.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're even good enough for me." He said. "How I managed to still your heart and your feelings when I'm not all that great as it is."

"That's not true," Emily said. "You are good enough for me."

"I don't feel like it sometimes." Ben said.

"What was your last real relationship like?" Emily asked.

"I was battling the rape in me, my mom didn't even know." Ben said.

"How did your dad know, but your mom didn't?" Emily said.

"I was practically an emancipated minor without the legal paperwork." Ben said. "We were in the process of emancipating me at the time of the rape."

"Oh," Emily said. "Continue."

"Her name was Mariah," he continued. "I was 19 and she was 18. We had a journalism class together and I hadn't dated anyone ever. I was kind of an innocent nerdy kid. You're only the second girl I've ever dated. But, she and I dated for over a year, but she broke up with me because I was taking things too slow. And it kind of broke me because I did put my heart out on the line for her. And she just packed up and left."

"I won't do that," Emily promised. "I won't pack up and leave."

"I know you won't because I'm pretty sure Stef and Lena would kick your ass if you did." Ben said kissing her forehead.

"They'll keep us both in line," Emily said.

"That they will," Ben said, holding Emily closer.

Little did they know that both Stef and Lena were standing where they couldn't see them in the kitchen nook listening to their conversation, smiling that the young couple was being honest with each other. Lena turned in Stef's arms and softly kissed her wife's lips and said, "I love you." And Stef returned the kiss and said I love you back.

Ben and Emily had layers that still needed to be pulled back for them, but this was a start to finding their way through the understanding of what people feel when they say they're in love.

* * *

**A/N2:** Not sure how I liked this chapter. It feels a little rough to me, but whatevs. It is what it is.

So recently I broke down and got a personal Twitter (because I have a professional one for work), so if you want to tweet me to talk about this story it's **FarawayLeading**. So yeah.

Anything you wanna see? Hit me up.


	12. The Road To Understanding

**A/N:** Thank you for all your support! It's midterms. And Pre-Algebra and philosophy have been taking over. I apologize.

And a double date between Ben, Emily, Stef, and Lena? You got it!

Also, just a warning (before all the hate comes my way), I _am_ adding the baby arc in here, just in a different way from the show (and no, I'm not bringing Timothy in. His character really annoyed me on the show).

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: The Road To Understanding**

"The fact that we're having a mini date outside your brother's therapy appointment on the bed of his truck should tell you that we both should step up our game," Lena said to her wife.

Ben was in his third therapy session with Doctor Baylor and like both Stef and Lena promised they were always outside his appointment, in case it was intense and one of them had to drive him home.

Stef scoffed, "We have plenty of game," she said leaning over to kiss her wife before handing her a sandwich.

"I love you," Lena whispered against her wife's lips.

"I love you too," Stef said.

"How do you think he's doing?" Lena asked taking a bite of the sandwich.

"I'm not sure," Stef said. "He seemed stressed out before going in there."

"You don't think it's us do you?" Lena asked.

"What do you mean?" Stef asked.

"I mean we put a lot of pressure on him when it comes to Emily." Lena said, "You don't think we're stressing him out, do you?"

"If he is stressed out then he hasn't said anything," Stef said. "I'm not sure."

"I hope he doesn't feel like he has to be this perfect guy for Emily." Lena said, "I mean, just as long as he treats her right."

Stef nodded, this was one of the first times besides at night where they've been totally alone. Lena seemed to be a little distant from her wife since driving to LA to get Ben to Payton. And Stef was thinking maybe she was putting Ben first a little too much lately.

"Hey," Stef said softly, "are _we_ okay?"

Lena's head popped up from where she was eating her sandwich, "Of course baby," she said. "Why?"

"It's just ever since we took Ben to LA to see his mama, you've been a little distant and I was wondering if I'm putting Ben first too much again."

Lena sighed, she had been a little distant ever since Stef made the joke of how when Ben was sleeping like a deadweight on her shoulder if she didn't know any better, she'd say mother and son and that pang in her chest of never carrying a child was ignited.

"It's not you," Lena said softly, "I promise."

"Okay?" Stef said softly, "Then what is it, my love?"

"Before we start this conversation, I want you to know that we can just talk, no outcome has to come out of this conversation except that I'm just talking it out."

"Okay," Stef said raising her arm, in a silent way of asking if she could hold her wife.

Lena crawled into her wife's arms, "You remember that joke you made about me and Ben that if you didn't know any better, you'd say mother and son when he was sleeping against me?" Stef nodded, not saying anything to get her wife off track, "I just, ever since then, this pang in my heart was ignited and it makes me feel like I was missing out by not giving birth to a baby."

"Oh my love," Stef said not realizing how her joke actually got to her wife.

"And don't get me wrong, I love our five kids like I did give birth to them, it's not that. It's just-" Lena then adjusted in her wife's arms, "I wish I knew what it felt like."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Stef asked. "Why did you keep it in for the last three weeks?"

"I just thought I was crazy at first, that we had five kids who need us, three of them that need us a little more."

"Well two of our kids are moving out this month," Stef said. "And Jesus and Mariana will be out before we know it. And the house is going to seem awfully empty."

"I just don't want to add to the younger twins and Jude's insecurities." Lena said.

"What do you mean?" Stef asked playing with Lena's hair.

"When you woke up, after you asked me to marry you and asked how the kids were doing, specifically Mariana. I went out to see her sitting outside the hospital and reassured her that we still loved her and then told her that DNA doesn't make a family, love does. And I don't want to add to the insecurity that she or the other boys might have."

"Then we'll reassure them," Stef said.

"What do you mean?" Lena asked looking up at her wife.

"My love, you give up a lot for me and the kids," Stef said, "It's time that I start doing stuff for you." She pulled her wife closer, "If you want to try, then we'll try. Don't worry about the kids, I know we'll always love them just as much as we will this beautiful baby we're going to have." She stopped what she was saying to softly kiss her wife's forehead. "Besides I can't wait to see you glowing and pregnant and to have a little version of you in my arms."

Lena smiled, "How was I ever lucky to find you?" She asked.

"Oh my love, _I'm_ the lucky one." Stef said holding her wife close and kissing her forehead three times and they continued to talk about the possiblity of expanding their family.

* * *

"You know the joy of us being together," Emily asked Ben that night as they were cuddled on the back porch swing at the Adams Foster residence.

"What?" He asked groggily because he was half asleep.

"Double dates with Stef and Lena." Emily said casually.

Ben's eyes went wide, "I'm sorry?"

Out of nowhere, the young couple heard Stef chuckling from the inside of the house, "Glad to know that I'm not the only one being bombarded like this," the blonde called out.

"I don't do double dates," Ben said lowly.

"C'mon, would you do it for me?" Emily asked.

"And me?" Lena asked coming outside with Stef.

"If I'm doing it, you're doing it bro." Stef said.

"Fine," Ben said, "but I'm warning you, I don't dance."

"This isn't your first double date set up I take it?" Stef said sitting on the chair across from them, pulling Lena into her lap.

"This isn't my first date," Ben said, carefully eyeing the couple. Sure, he knew they loved each other, he's walked in on them making out like a couple of teenagers multiple times in the few months that he's been apart of this family, but this whole, Lena sitting on Stef's lap thing was new to him.

"It's okay," Lena said, "I know that dancing doesn't mix will with the Elkin side of the both of you. So, we won't go dancing."

"We were thinking though, like a picnic on the beach," Emily said.

"Wait a minute," Ben said, "you already knew about this?" He asked his girlfriend.

"Knew about this? Honey, this was _my_ idea," Emily said placing her head on his chest. "Lena immediately jumped on board."

Ben looked between his girlfriend and her sister and then looked at his sister, "Sorry kiddo," Stef said.

"Okay _fine._" He said, "I'll agree to this, but like I said, I don't dance and if you want to do a picnic on the beach let's at least do it at my place and I'll cook dinner."

Emily and Lena smiled, "Sounds good," the sister duo said in unison.

"So, what's going on with you two?" Ben asked, going back to noticing that the older couple was a little more touchy feely than normal.

"What do you mean?" Stef asked. Ben rose his eyebrow, "I love my wife. Do I have to have a reason why she's sitting on my lap?" Ben kept the same expression on his face. "Okay, okay." Stef gave in, "We're going to try to expand our family."

Both Ben and Emily looked at the older couple, "Like adopt again?" Emily asked.

"Actually no," Lena said, looking into the house to make sure no kids were eavesdropping. "We're going to try to get me pregnant."

The younger couple's eyes went wide, "Really?" They both asked.

"Yeah," Lena said, "nothing's set in stone yet, but we do want to try."

"How are your kids going to react?" Ben asked, "Especially the younger twins and Jude?"

"We don't know," Stef said. "Why?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

He sighed, "Before my moms adopted Leo and Leah, they tried to get my mama pregnant and I may have freaked out at the idea." He said.

"You freaked out at the idea of your mama being pregnant, but when they adopted Leo and Leah, you didn't freak out?" Stef asked trying to understand.

"I was like six when they were trying to get pregnant and they did, it's just she lost the baby. She suffered preeclampsia. Ironically because he blood sugar is really low now." He said. "I was 11 when they started to foster-adopt."

"Oh wow," Lena said. "Uh, I still have to talk with my doctor about it, but I think it should be fine."

Stef cleared her throat, "I know this is awkward, so feel free to say no, Lena and I have been talking and were wondering, if you'd be the donor." She said.

"Me?" Ben asked, "Are you sure?"

"We know that DNA doesn't make a family, but we'd like it to stay in the family if that makes sense," Lena tried to explain.

"You can totally take time to think about it," Stef said, "like we said Lena still needs to get clearance from her doctor and we should break the news to the other kids first."

"If you want me to, then yeah sure," Ben said. "Whatever you need."

"So you'd be willing to sign your parental rights away, yes?" Stef asked to clarify.

"As long as I still can be Uncle Ben," he said.

"Of course," the couple said. "That would never change," Stef assured.

"Okay then, yes," Ben said. "Just let me know when you're ready. I'd be honored."

The couple smiled, Ben really was a good guy and they were lucky to have found out about him.

* * *

The next morning, the two couples were sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee when they heard the front door slam shut. Stef and Lena were about to looked to see what kid it was when they all heard Callie grumbling about something coming into the kitchen after her morning run.

"Callie sweetheart," Lena said softly going over to place a hand on the girl's shoulder as she grabbed a Gatorade out of the refrigerator. Callie's shoulders were shaking, signaling to her moms, aunt, and uncle that she was crying. "Callie baby," Lena whispered. "Look at me baby." Callie turned around and looked at her mama, "Oh honey," Lena said pulling the girl into her, "What's got my slug-a-bug so upset, huh?"

Callie buried herself into Lena's chest and took in the familiar smell of her mama. She remembered the first time it brought her comfort. When she was five a broke her arm and Lena rushed her to the local emergency room because it was after hours for the doctor.

_Flashback._

Callie had been running kicking the ball trying to make a goal when she was accidentally pushed hard and landed wrong on her arm. She didn't cry bloody murder like one would expect, in fact, she didn't cry at all. Not until her mother's girlfriend of six months came running out onto the field. Not caring that she was in her work clothes and that it was kind of muddy on the field.

"Callie baby," Lena tried to coax, "are you okay?"

"Lena," she murmured. "It hurts, my arm, it hurts."

"It's okay baby." Lena cooed softly. "Let Lena see your arm." Callie held her arm out for Lena to see. It looked broken. She sighed, "Baby, I gotta get you to the emergency room."

"Nooo," Callie said. "I'm fine, I can make it through practice."

"Callie honey," Lena said softly.

Callie looked from Lena to her coach who was standing with a concerned look on his face behind Lena, "I'd listen to her kiddo." He said.

Callie looked with watery eyes at her mother's girlfriend, "Okay," the girl said softly.

Lena picked the girl up and took her to her car, "I'm gonna call your mommy on the way, okay?" She said.

"But-but, she's at work." Callie said.

"It's okay," Lena said, "She'd want to know about this." She dialed Stef's number and said, "Hi honey. Uh, I have some not so good news." Pause. "Callie may have broken her arm at soccer practice today. I'm going to take her to the ER to find out." Another pause. "Is Mike picking up Brandon for their guys night?" Third pause. "Okay, that sounds good. I'll text you when I get there okay?" Fourth pause. "Alright, I love you." Final pause. "Bye honey."

"Is-is Mommy going to come?" Callie asked in a small voice from the back seat.

"Yes Mommy is coming," Lena said softly.

"Okay," Callie said, "Are you going to stay?" She asked in the same small voice as before.

"Of course, baby." The woman said softly as she pulled into the parking lot of the emergency room and when she parked the car, she went to the back and lifted Callie up. "Alright sweetheart," Lena said, "let's get you in there."

It was over an hour before they were seen and they sat in the waiting room with Callie sitting in Lena's lap buring her face into the woman's chest. From the age of five on, Callie's comfort place was her face buried into Lena's chest. She'll never be able to explain why, but neither Lena or Stef asked.

_End Flashback._

"Baby," Lena whispered again as the tears settled down, "talk to Mama."

"I should've saw it coming," Callie mumbled.

"Saw what coming baby?" Lena asked as the other three people in the room quietly stepped out. Stef would find out from Lena later, right now, it was evident that Callie needed some Mama time.

"Aiden," she said lowly. "How distant he's been since I've gotten that scholarship. How he stopped hanging around here and with me. I should've saw it coming."

Lena kissed Callie's temple, "He broke up with you," she said more a statement than a question.

Callie nodded, "Through a text message last night," she said.

Lena sighed again, Aiden seemed like a nice kid. Came from a good family, so this surprised her. "I love you baby," Lena reiterated, "so much."

"I love you too, Mama," Callie whispered.

* * *

Callie was sitting out back later that afternoon when Ben came out of the house to take a work related phone call and after he was done he sat next to Callie and loosely wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Your mama told us what happened." He said. "Sorry."

Callie cuddled into her uncle for the first time, "His loss I guess."

Ben surprised that his niece cuddled into him wrapped his arm tighter around her shoulder, "It still must suck though," Ben said.

"He was my first everything. First boyfriend, first kiss, first well, y'know everything." She said when it was obvious that she was going to say first time. "It just sucks."

"You deserve better than that," Ben said. "Your mom is in there right now fuming. It's taking both your mama _and _Emily to keep her calm."_  
_

Callie chuckled, "That sounds like Mom." She said.

The two watched the sun beginning to set for awhile before Ben had to ask the question that had been bouncing around in his mind for a while now, "You seem close to your mama," Ben began, "I'd think you'd be closer to your mom and dad. What has you closer to your mama?" He asked. "Not that it's a bad thing and only if you _want_ to share," he added.

Callie chuckled, "You and my mom, so opposite, y'know?" She asked and when he gave her a confused looked she said, "Because you respect that sometimes people don't want to share things and well you know Mom."

"She just wants to help you," Ben said. "I know it's super annoying sometimes," he said. "Trust me, I know, but your moms and your dad love you. So much that they may annoy you sometimes."

"Is that how it used to be when you had three parents?" Callie asked.

He nodded his head, "Mhm and the moment I realized that I was lucky enough to have three people as worried about me was the moment I was down to two... or went up to four, depending how you look at it. Your moms get pretty worried about me sometimes."

Silence filled the backyard before Callie said, "It's weird because you're right, you'd think I'd have a special connection with my mom and dad, but my mama, she was there through everything. I remember the first time I called her Mama. Brandon had been calling her it for a few weeks at the time and I had been bouncing it around in my head for awhile, but couldn't get myself to call her that."

"What finally broke you?" Ben asked.

"I was bullied in elementary school." Callie said, "It wasn't until I hit puberty in middle school that the bullying stopped. But there was one time, it was right before we all moved in together that Lena caught two of the bullies as they were trying to shove me into a locker. And when we were in her office, after the two bullies left, I broke down crying."

_Flashback. _

"I'm really disappointed in both of you boys," Lena said to the two boys that were caught trying to shove a first-graded Callie into a locker.

"Vice Principal Adams," one of the boys said, "it wasn't what you were thinking."

"What wasn't, Mr. Miller?" Lena said to the boy, "I turned a corner to see you and Mr. Williams attempting to shove Miss Foster here into a locker, you know Anchor Beach has a zero tolerance for violence or bullying, so do you want to try that one again?"

"Whatever," he mumbled.

"Travis," the other boy said, "don't get us in more trouble than we're already in."

"Oh don't worry, Mr. Williams," Lena said, "you both get separate punishments, if that were to happen. Two day in house suspension followed by two weeks of no recess, got it?" Both the boys nodded, "Now go, I'll be calling each of your parents to let them know." The two boys got up and went into the main office to sit and wait for their parents, they knew they were going home for the rest of the day. But, Lena wanted a moment alone with Callie so as the door shut she moved next to Callie and said, "Can you look at me slug-a-bug?"

Callie slowly made eye contact with Lena, "I'm sorry." The girl said.

"What for honey?" Lena asked.

"For causing you to have misbehaving kids," she said.

"Honey, I don't care about that. It's apart of my job," Lena said. "I care about your safety."

Callie broke down crying, "I'm so tired of being made fun of Mama," she murmured softly.

Lena's eyes went wide, the girl had called her mama. This was a first.

Lena wrapped her arms around Callie, "It's okay. It's okay. Mama's got you." Lena said.

When the crying settled down to sniffles, Lena heard Callie's stomach grumble, "They took my lunch," Callie murmured. "I don't know what they did with it, but they took my lunch and I'm hungry."

"Here," Lena said pulling out her lunch, "let's share mine."

"Really?" Callie said.

"Of course honey." Lena said. "Don't want you to go hungry."

_End Flashback._

"She and I just grew close, y'know?" Callie said finishing the story. "It's nothing against my mom and dad, it's just, my mama was always there. Through everything."

"I get it." Ben said. "I really do."

And he did understand, his mama was always like an unbiased third party who still loved and cared about him and was always there for him. They were like pals almost, but in that mother-son kind of way.

* * *

**A/N2:** So yeah, not sure if I like this chapter. I hope you do. Or if not, please don't hate me too much. This kind of became a filler chapter. So the other kids will be in the next chapter, I promise. So will the double date.


	13. The Road To The First Goodbye

**A/N:** Thanks for the support!

Sorry for the delay. School has picked up a lot recently and writer's block is never fun.

The summer is ending in the Adams Foster family.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: The Road To The First Goodbye**

"I'm going to miss you, you know that?" Stef said wrapping her arm around Callie as the girl snuggled into her mother's strong embrace as they sat on the swing on the front porch together. Stef was trying to sneak some time in before Mike came and picked her up for a father-daughter date. The girl was leaving in several days for athlete move in on campus.

"I'm going to miss you too, Mom," Callie said resting her head on her shoulder. "But, there's always Skype and FaceTime."

"Yeah," Stef said kissing the top of her eldest daughter's head, "once a week?"

"I think I can swing that," Callie said. "The day may change from week to week though."

"That's fine," Stef said. "You're just my baby and with Brandon leaving in three weeks, it feels like I'm losing two of my babies in one shot."

"It's going to be so weird," Callie said, "a life without the chaos that is the Adams Foster family."

"It's going to be so weird without you baby," Stef said kissing the top of her forehead.

Lena poked her head out looking for her wife and eldest daughter and saw them cuddling on the front porch swing.

"Hey you two," Lena said. "Mind if I join?"

"Of course," the mother and daughter said at the same time as Callie made room for her mama on the other side of her.

"This is what I'm going to miss the most," Callie said, "Mamasandwiches." She murmured.

"We'll be sure to do a lot of them when you're home baby," Stef said looking lovingly over at her wife.

"I remember the first time I got to cuddle between you two," Callie said. "After coming home from the emergency room with my broken arm."

"I think that was the only time where I cried because somebody wanted me to hold them," Lena remembered with a smile.

_Flashback._

Stef, Lena, and Callie were finally home after five long hours at the emergency room. Lena offered to stay the night with them to help with Callie in the morning. Callie was asleep on Stef's lap, it had been an emotional night, she hated seeing either one of her babies in pain.

"Stef honey," Lena said, "go change out of your uniform. Let me take your baby girl for a moment."

Stef eyed Lena carefully, "You sure?" She asked her girlfriend.

"You'll be a lot more comfortable in sweats, babe." Lena said softly.

Stef sighed and roughly rubbed her face with her hand, "You're right," she said shifting Callie into the vice principal's arms. "Thanks," Stef added kissing Lena's forehead as she stood.

"You're welcome baby," Lena smiled holding Callie. The girl was like a deadweight against the woman. Lena softly kissed the top of the five year old's head which made Callie bury her face more in Lena's chest. Lena smiled because this is the most contact that the five year old girl would allow Lena to give her in one day. There was always an occasional hug, but Brandon was always the one who wants to cuddle with Lena. Callie stirred in her sleep and whimpered in pain a little, "Shh, shh, it's okay baby," Lena whispered, "it's just Lena."

"Where's Mommy?" Callie asked in a soft whimper.

"She went to go change out of her uniform," Lena said holding her a little tighter. "She'll be back in a minute." She added kissing the top of the girl's head.

Callie snuggled into Lena as far as she could, Lena somewhat surprised that the girl was consciously snuggling against her. When Stef came down a few minutes later, Lena went to shift Callie back into Stef's arms, but Callie stopped her, "Nooo," she somewhat tiredly whined, "I want the both of you."

Lena's eyes watered, it wasn't the girl hated her, but she never sought out physical contact before from anybody, but Stef.

"Okay," Stef said, "how about we move this into Mommy's room? That way if you fall asleep, it will be more comfortable than the couch." Callie nodded as the couple stood up with Callie tightly in Lena's arms. They walked down the hall and placed Callie in the middle of the bed.

Lena quickly changed into more comfortable clothes that she kept over at Stef's when they spent the night together when the twins were with Mike.

The three of them lied there in a comfortable silence with Callie in both Stef and Lena's arms. When Callie finally fell asleep, Lena said, "What changed?"

"Hm?" Stef said, half conscious. "What do you mean my love?"

"This morning she was the kid that I had to ask if I could hug her and now, she wants me to hold her."

"You were the one there when something pretty traumatic happened to her, she loves you babe. She just has a different way of showing it." Stef said, grabbing Lena's hand that was on Callie.

Lena nodded and Stef leaned over to kiss her good night and that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship between Lena and Callie.

_End Flashback._

"I'm going to miss this," Callie reiterated. "Mamasandwiches," the teenager murmured.

"I promise," Stef said, "every time you come home, we'll do this." She kissed her oldest daughter's temple.

"Mmmhmm," Lena said, "I love me some Callie time."

And that's how Mike found the three of them when he came to pick Callie up for their father-daughter date and he smiled a little at the sight. He was happy that Stef found the love she needed and he was happy that it was a woman that cared about their kids more than anything in the world.

* * *

Between Lena and Emily, the double date that they had planned was actually going slower than they expected. They decided to grab dinner and then take a walk down the beach, but the three women could tell that Ben's mind was elsewhere. He had just gotten back from a week in New York on business.

Emily wrapped her arm around him and asked, "You alright?"

Ben gave his typical answer, "Hm? Oh yeah, fine."

"Lying doesn't help you get better," Lena said over her shoulder.

"I'm just tired, that's all." Ben said.

Stef suddenly stopped and then took her brother's face in her hands and softly caressed her thumbs over his cheek bones, "Stop lying to us bro," she said softly, "we _want_ to help you."

"I'm not lying," he said. "Seriously, I'm fine. I'm just really tired. I did just get off a plane four hours ago."

Stef stared at him, trying to figure out whether or not he was telling the truth, and then when he gave her a soft smile, she let go of his face and wrapped an arm around Lena, "Okay," she said.

The two couples walked in silence listening to the sounds of the ocean. Every once and awhile Stef would press a soft kiss to Lena's temple. The sun had long since set, but it was peaceful.

Emily had been carrying a blanket for them to sit on and after she and Lena spread out the blanket and the two couples sat down, Ben's phone rang.

"Please don't answer that," Stef said to him wanting the double date to be free from distractions of their every day lives.

Ben sighed as he hit ignore on his phone, whoever it was would have to wait.

"Thank you baby," Emily whispered and kissed his cheek.

"You bet, my love." Ben said softly before leaning back on his back to look at the stars.

"How was New York?" Stef asked Ben.

"If I wasn't busy with work, I was busy dealing with my unaccepting grandmother." Ben said. "I try to save the company money every time I go, but my right-wing conservative grandmother doesn't help that."

"She doesn't accept your mom?" Lena asked, leaning back to also look at the stars.

"Nope," he said, "never has and I doubt she will. And I'm constantly called the bastard child by her husband."

"I take it not your biological grandfather?" Stef asked.

"It's her like fourth or fifth husband?" He said not believing what was coming out of his mouth.

"Wow," Emily said. "And she's unaccepting to your mom?"

"Just as unaccepting as our dad was to Stef," Ben said carefully.

"And you're caught in the middle?" Lena asked as Stef lied back and the curly haired woman placed her head on the blonde's shoulder.

"Pretty much," he said staring up at the stars as silence fell between the four.

They were all listening to the sound of the ocean and watching the stars, when Emily chuckled, "Remember when you two took me to do this when I lived with you?" The young woman asked.

The older couple smiled, "Yeah," Lena said. "You'd always feel so bad because we got a babysitter for the older twins and we'd take you out."

"That's because you two deserved a date night," Emily argued. "I felt like I was taking up a lot of your time."

"Trust me," Stef said squeezing the young woman's shoulder, "we had plenty of date nights while you lived with us."

Emily looked over at Stef with a small smile, "Yeah?" She asked.

"They were a lot of date nights in for the sole factor of in case you needed us, but yes," Stef said softly kissing her baby sister's forehead.

"I remember the night before the court hearing, the older twins were with Mike and you two took me here and you two just held me, reassuring me that everything was going to be okay, it actually was what got me through the next day," Emily said as she grabbed Stef's hand.

Stef squeezed her hand, "That was our only goal." She said as they fell back into another bit of silence.

Lena then looked over to Ben who looked like he was thinking about something really hard. He had a far off gaze in his eyes as he looked at the stars.

"You alright Ben?" Lena asked.

"Hm?" Ben said looking at her and Lena was the first one to catch the tears in his eyes, "Oh yeah, fine."

"Honey," Lena said softly. "What's going through that head of yours, huh?"

"Just stuff," he answered knowing that Lena wouldn't take nothing as an answer. "Stuff that I'm trying to figure out. Stuff that I need to figure out. Just stuff."

"Like what?" Emily asked as she cuddled further into her boyfriend.

"Just work stuff," Ben answered.

"Well can you not think about that right now?" Stef asked. "It's kinda hard to have a little fun if you're trapped in work stuff while we're attempting to have a double date over here."

"Stef," Lena gently chastised.

"What?" Stef asked looking at her wife. "It's true."

Lena gave her wife a small glare, in ten years, Stef knew that look and she knew better not to push her luck.

When Stef laid back and just brought Lena closer to her, Ben chuckled, "You really are whipped, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" Stef asked her brother while giving him a glare.

"You'll do just about anything that Lena tells you to," Ben said. "Just a look kinda just brings you back in line. It's like Lena has you wrapped around her fingers. It's endearing really."

Lena smiled and kissed Stef's cheek, "I think it's an Adams trait," Stef told her brother. "Because Emily has you wrapped around her fingers as well."

Ben kissed the top of Emily's head, "She always has," he said. "Since the moment she walked into _The Opinionated Buzz_ for the Times lawsuit. I was really taken back when I met her."

Emily looked up at the man, "You were?" She asked.

"You have this strong personality, which probably attracted me to you, but yeah. I think that was the moment I realized that I was in too deep and didn't care." Ben said with a small smile, "You knew what you wanted, how you wanted it, and would do just about anything to get it. So yeah, I was taken back a little."

"I just love my job," Emily said.

"You're really good at your job," Lena said remembering seeing her in action once.

"Thanks sissy," Emily said squeezing her older sister's hand.

The four fell into a peaceful silence again with each Adams sister cuddled into their respective Elkin-blooded significant other with their hands collapsed into each other. Sure this double date started out slow, but both couples realized that this is what they needed. Just a low-key, quiet night on the beach; all silently agreeing to do this often.

* * *

Callie didn't hate a lot of things; Lena had taught the older twins early on in her relationship with Stef that hate is a strong word and should be used lightly. The woman had taught the older twins that they didn't hate much, they strongly disliked things.

But, Callie could say that she hated packing, especially packing that meant that she would be away from her family for more than a couple of weeks. It was the day before she was going to leave with her three parents for athlete move in day and everything was slowly beginning to sink in. She could tell that all three of her parents were trying to hide their emotion behind her moving across the country. Her twin, Mariana, and Jude as well. Jesus was another story.

"So this makes it official," Jesus said walking into her room as she was beginning to pack her clothing.

"It does," Callie said folding a sweatshirt and putting it into a suitcase.

"I really am going to miss you," the boy said. "It's not going to be the same without you here. At least with Brandon, Mom convinced him to come home once a week for dinner."

"She convinced me to Skype once a week," Callie said remembering the conversation they had on the porch a couple of days prior before her father-daughter date with Mike.

Jesus looked up at Callie's wall and smiled when he saw the picture from his and Mariana's adoption day, "You still have it up." He said when he saw it.

Callie chuckled, "Of course," she said. "Mama's framing the one from Jude's adoption day so I can have them both in my dorm room."

Jesus smiled, "Y'know, you were the first one that I trusted coming here." He said. "I can probably attest for Mariana and Jude too." He added knowing he was right.

"You guys didn't trust moms at first?" Callie asked.

"We wanted to," Mariana said coming into the room with Jude and Brandon. "But, you played with me and Jesus."

"And you protected me," Jude added.

"What are you all doing in here?" Callie asked already knowing the answer.

"You're moving out tomorrow and you're really asking us why we're all in here?" Brandon asked incredulously.

"Alright, fair point." Callie said. "But, if you all are going to be in here, at least help me pack."

"Deal," her four siblings said.

As the five siblings were packing up Callie's things, they fell into a relative silence, nobody knew what to say. Callie was moving and they were all going to miss her.

"You still have this?" Brandon asked looking at Callie. Callie smiled and nodded her head, "Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one that held onto the bear that Mama gave me."

"What bear?" Stef asked as she and Lena came into the room with Lena.

"When we all first moved in together," Lena said, "you were working a night shift and they were scared of the new place without you in it and there was a pretty bad storm out. So when they came to cuddle with me, I gave them both a bear that were mine and Emily's growing up."

_Flashback._

Lena was used to the storms having not grown up in California, but in the midwest where they were a little more common to get. It was 2 o'clock in the morning when she felt the bed dip on both sides.

"Lena?" Callie said softly.

"Yes babies?" Lena said cuddling with them both.

"The storm woke us up," Brandon answered for his sister, "and we can't get back to sleep."

"We were wondering if we could cuddle with you until we did," Callie said hopeful.

"Sure," Lena said, "I'd love to cuddle with my babies." She added wrapping her arms around both of them. Thunder roared and lightening brightened up the room from the window for a second and both of the kids curled more into Lena. "Y'know, I was scared of these storms growing up. So was Emily."

The twins had just met Emily a few days before when she had come down to visit them and both Brandon and Callie fell in love with the younger version of Lena.

"What did your mommy and daddy do about it?" Brandon asked.

"They gave us these bears," Lena said. "Because they didn't want us cuddling with them every time there was a storm." Then Lena quickly added, "That's not the case here. Your mommy and I would love to cuddle with you, any time, but I'll have to find the bears and give them to you."

"Really?" Both the twins said at the same time.

"Yeah, Emily wanted me to give hers to one of you anyway." Lena said, "I'll give them to you in the morning."

"Okay," the twins said sleepily and as they fell asleep, Lena thanked whoever was out there that her girlfriend's babies trusted her enough to allow her to cuddle with them while they slept.

_End Flashback._

Lena and the older twins smiled at the memory, "I can't believe you two kept them," Lena said.

"It was your first tangible gift, second gift that you gave us," Brandon said.

"What was the first?" Jude asked.

"Her love," they said softly.

Lena's eyes were starting to water and she walked over to the older twins and brought them both into her arms, kissing both of them on their cheeks. Stef watched as this all unfolded and couldn't keep from letting a tear or two go.

When Lena let go of Brandon and Callie, she cleared her throat, "So we wanted to talk to everybody about something and we were going to do it over dinner, which is ready."

"Good," Jesus said, "because I'm starved. We'll help you after dinner Cal," he added.

"Yeah definitely," the rest of the siblings said; it was their way of sneaking in some Callie time before she left.

Stef and Lena smiled as their children filed out of the room, Stef lifted her arm for Lena to come into as they left the room as well.

* * *

"So what did you have to talk to us about?" Jesus asked after they started eating the homemade pizza that the moms made for the family.

Stef looked at Lena allowing her to take the lead, but when she didn't she realized that she had to take the lead. The had gotten the okay for Dr. Hillcroft about having the baby and their lawyer was drafting up the paperwork for Ben to sign his rights away before they went for their first round of inseminations.

"Before we begin, I want everybody to be on the same page about this," Stef began, "that _nobody_ is going to be replaced."

The kids stared at their mom confused, "I guess what Mom is trying to say," Lena said taking over, "is that recently I realized that as much as I love you kids like I did give birth to you, I guess I want to know what it's like to be pregnant and give birth to a child."

"Really?" All the kids said as their eyes lit up. "So there's potentially going to be a baby here in the next year?" Mariana asked with a big smile.

"Y-yes," Lena said not expecting the kids to take it as well as they were.

"I think that's cool," Jude said.

"Yeah," Brandon said before taking a bite of his pizza.

"Definitely," Jesus said. "I was wondering why you haven't done it already."

"It's pretty expensive for us to get pregnant," Stef said to Jesus.

"How are you feeling about this slug-a-bug?" Lena asked Callie realizing that she hadn't said anything yet.

"Pretty good," Callie said, "I mean, that doesn't change your love for us right?"

"Of course not," both moms said immediately.

"Then, can it be a girl?" Callie asked playfully knowing that it wasn't really up to them.

"We'll see," Lena said.

"So who's going to be your donor or are you choosing for it to be anonymous?" Brandon asked.

"Well," Lena said with a small smile at Stef, "since you asked, uh, we're going to be using your Uncle Ben."

All the siblings nodded, "Not gonna lie," Jesus said after a moment of letting it sink in, "using Uncle Ben makes sense, but it's still a little weird."

"Yeah well, don't make him feel awkward about it when he and Aunt Emily stay with you when we take Callie to school." Stef said.

"Yes please," Lena said. "He's doing this out of the goodness of his heart."

"We won't moms," Brandon said. "We promise." He added with the three younger ones nodding their head.

* * *

"Alright," Stef said running her hand through her hair early the next morning, "do you have everything?"

Callie chuckled, "For the fifth time, yes." She said as there was a knock on the door.

Stef opened the door to see Mike, Ben, and Emily all standing at the door, "What did you all carpool together?" She joked.

"Well Emily and I did," Ben said, "it was just a coincidence that we showed up at the same time as Mike."

"Come on in," Stef said as the three walked passed her. "You know you two didn't have to come until after work."

"We wanted to say goodbye to our niece," Emily said putting an arm around Callie.

"Yeah Mom," Callie said, "I'm important too, you know."

"Of course you are baby," Stef said smiling softly at her oldest daughter who was being wrapped up in a hug from Emily.

Lena came down the stairs with her and Stef's shared bag and saw her sister hugging her daughter, "You guys didn't have to come-"

"We know," both Emily and Ben said, "We wanted to say goodbye to her the morning she left." Emily added.

"Y'know if that's okay," Ben added playfully hugging Callie.

"Perfectly fine," Lena said as four sets of feet came tumbling down the stairs to say goodbye to their sister.

"Guys," Callie said softly, "it's 4 in the morning."

"We know," Jesus said, "but we won't see you until Thanksgiving."

"We're going to miss you," Jude added.

"Yeah," Mariana said. "A lot."

"And Uncle Ben and Aunt Emily promised us breakfast at that bakery up the street," Brandon said selling out his moms' respective siblings.

Both moms looked to their brother and sister for confirmation, "It's not just a hard time for you two," Ben said shrugging his shoulders.

"Don't worry, they'll get a home cooked meal every night you're gone," Emily said.

"How often are we going to get some bonding time in?" Ben asked.

"Okay," the moms said. "But seriously give them real food while we're gone," Lena said.

"Yes ma'am," the younger couple said.

"Alright," Stef said, "we better get a move on."

"Right because you're so anxious to get the airport," Mike said. "I'm glad all three of us are going."

"Why's that?" Ben asked curiously.

"Your sister and your niece can't handle plane rides." Mike said.

"Oh yes this is true," Lena said.

"No, it's not," both Stef and Callie said.

"Honey, do I need to remind we took the older twins and Emily on an airplane to see my parents when we first got together?" Lena asked.

Emily and Brandon chuckled at that memory, "I spent the entire time with my arm wrapped around Callie while Lena lost circulation in her hand," Emily told everybody who wasn't there.

"Yeah," Brandon said, "it was pretty funny to watch." He added earning a glare from his twin and his mom. "It was."

"Alright," Mike said, "let's go."

Each sibling took time to hug Callie goodbye and when it got to Brandon, everybody gave them some space. He hugged her and said, "Promise that you'll FaceTime me more than Mom."

"I'll try," Callie said. "I'm gonna miss you B."

"I'm going to miss you too, Striker." Brandon said softly then kissing her on the forehead. "Tell any guy that if he hurts you, I'm not afraid to fly out and kick their ass."

Callie smiled, "I will and you tell Lou who you feel about her. She's a hell of a lot better for you than Talya." She said.

Brandon smiled, "I love you." He said.

"I love you too," Callie said back.

Callie picked up her soccer bag and walked out of the house for the last time until Thanksgiving.

Ben came behind Brandon and placed his hands on the teenager's shoulders, "Alright," Ben said, "ya'll are dressed right?" He received four nods. "Then let's get a move on, when the bakery opens is when they have the best pastries in all of San Diego county."

* * *

Stef sat with her arm around Lena on the airplane after take off, she was sipping bad airplane coffee and was resting her head on Lena's.

"You did a little better than the last time," Lena teased.

"You're too kind," Stef said kissing the top of her wife's head as she looked over and saw Mike with his arm around Callie and the teenager's head on her father's shoulders.

"I have a feeling that you're going to miss her a lot," Lena said already knowing the truth.

"My baby," Stef murmured. "I mean I know we have four more at home and we'll have one more on the way soon, but there's something special about Callie."

"She's a mini, brunette version of you," Lena said.

"She does remind me a lot of myself when I was her age." Stef said, "Although, she's brave. San Diego bred right here."

"She has dreams and she's doing whatever it takes to get to them." Lena said. "I'm insanely proud of her."

"You and me both my love." Stef said kissing Lena's temple. "You and me both."

The couple sat there enjoying the little peace and quiet before the chaos began. They cuddled and occasionally stole kisses from each other. Something about being able to hold her lover made Stef feel a little more at peace.

* * *

**A/N2:** So the next chapter is going to be about the three parents saying goodbye to Callie and Ben and Emily bonding with the other siblings back in San Diego. Then will be the three parents having to say goodbye to Brandon and I'm going to try to sneak double dates with both couples in throughout the rest of the story. And more talk about Baby Adams Foster will be talked about. Just a forewarning, it's not going to be like the show.

I hope you stick around.


	14. The Road To Chaos & Goodbye

**A/N:** Thanks for sticking with me! It's going to be a wonderful ride.

**Trigger warning:** Mentions of Ben being raped is in this chapter.

**Language warning:** Some swearing is used in one of the scenes in this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: The Road To Chaos and Goodbyes**

Emily woke up in Ben's arms a couple days later; they were sleeping on the pull-out couch and Ben was already awake. Ben had been up for a couple of hours trying not to wake his girlfriend because he had a nightmare, but when she finally stirred he spooned her from behind, kissing the back of her neck.

"Good morning beautiful," he said kissing her when she turned around.

"Morning handsome," she said kissing him back. "How long have you been up?"

"Uhh not long," Ben said unconvincingly.

"Couple of hours?" She asked looking at him straight in the eyes.

"I didn't want to wake you, but I couldn't sleep after that nightmare." Ben said as his phone rang.

"Next time please do," Emily said just like Lena would.

"Alright, Lena Adams Foster," Ben said rolling his eyes when he looked at his phone. "Stef is FaceTiming me."

"Well answer it." Emily said.

Ben slid the answer button, "You do realize it's 6:00am here, yes?" Ben said after it connected.

_"Yeah well, I also know you and Emily are getting up to go to work." Stef said with her arm around Lena._

"Good morning Stef and Lena," Emily said playfully shoving her boyfriend's shoulder.

_"Good morning Emily," Stef said, "Y'see that's how you should answer your phone, Benjamin."_

"Whatever Stefanie," Ben muttered as he handed the phone to Emily and got up to make coffee.

_"What's wrong with him?" Lena asked when he walked away. "He normally IS a morning person."_

"He had a nightmare last night and dealt with it by himself." Emily answered.

_Both women sighed, "Oh that boy," Lena said softly._

_"He really needs to know when to ask for help," Stef said._

"Yeah, trust me sissys, I know." Emily said. "He's working on it."

_"How is it?" Stef asked changing the subject. "How are the kids?"_

"The younger twins are arguing about something and have been since the morning you left, Jude is okay, and Brandon is with his band right now."

_"What are Jesus and Mariana arguing about?" Lena asked worried about the two._

"Not sure, they're arguing in Spanish and Ben is doing his best to keep them from not killing each other." Emily said.

_"Ben?!" Stef called._

"Stop yelling, your kids are still asleep." Ben said coming and cuddling with his girlfriend again. "What's up?"

_"What are the twins arguing about?" Stef asked._

"It's not important," Ben said looking at his girlfriend.

_"It is if they are still arguing," Stef said._

"It's nothing you can deal with in Pennsylvania," Ben said.

"_WHAT are they arguing about?" Stef asked again._

"Seeing Ana," Ben answered to get his sister to shut up, but regretted it when he saw both women's eyes widening. "Look, they aren't going to do anything while you're gone. That's not why they're arguing."

_"Then why are they arguing?" Stef asked almost in a command like way._

"Jesus thinks that seeing her will only cause more drama and Mariana wants some closure." Ben said.

_"Well how messy is their arguing?" Lena asked. "No swearing or name calling right?"_

Ben rose an eyebrow at his sister-in-law, did she not know how teenagers fight and argue?

_Lena sighed, "Alright, we'll deal with it when we get home," she said._

"How is it going over there?" Emily asked successfully changing the subject. "Has Stef broke down crying yet?"

_Stef squinted at her baby sister, "Noo," she said._

"C'mon Stef," Emily said, "if you don't breakdown in front of Callie, you'll do it in front of Brandon."

_"I'm not having a breakdown," Stef said. "I'm proud of my babies."_

"Yeah, but you're going to miss them," Emily said, "Speaking of which, where is Callie?"

_"Having breakfast with Mike," Stef said. "And we're doing dinner with her tonight after she officially moves in this afternoon."_

"Looks like they're is a plan in place," Ben said.

_"How are Brandon and Jude?" Stef asked._

"Jude is good," Emily answered. "He's actually going to go to work with Ben today."

_"And Brandon?" Stef asked knowing if this was hard on her, Lena, and Mike it had to be hard on him._

Ben and Emily simultaneously sighed, ever since Callie left he had been with the band, but he also spent late nights locked in his room with headphones playing his keyboard. He's said all about two words to them since the early morning.

"He's not really talking," Emily said. "He's with his band all day and then by himself playing music with headphones late into the night."

"It's almost like Callie died or something," Ben said softly. "He misses her a lot."

_Stef sighed, "I knew this would happen," the blonde said._

"I was thinking about talking to him tonight," Ben said. "Gain some perspective on what's going on in his head."

_"We appreciate that honey," Lena said as she was visibly rubbing her wife's back. "We appreciate everything that you're doing for us."_

"If the roles were reversed, you'd do the same," Ben said wrapping an arm around Emily. "I have it handled Stef," he reiterated to his sister. "Don't worry about it."

_"I'm going to worry about it," Stef said. "It's my baby we're talking about here."_

"I'll handle it," Ben said. "Focus on one baby at a time."

_Stef sighed, "You're right," she said._

"I'm sorry?" Ben just said, "What did you just say?"

_An amused smile came onto Lena's face, "I wouldn't push it if I were you buddy," Lena said._

"Just saying, between the three of you, I've never been right before," Ben said. "Let me have this moment.

The Adams sisters chuckled and Emily kissed Ben's cheek as the Elkin-blooded siblings shared an intense stare down like they always do in these situations.

* * *

"So are you nervous kiddo?" Mike asked Callie at the breakfast they were having together.

"About living on my own and going to school? Yeah," Callie admitted. "I'm going to miss life back home."

"I'm going to miss having you around," Mike admitted. "Uh thanks for having breakfast with me this morning."

"You don't have to thank me, Daddy." Callie admitted softly.

"You probably could've had a better breakfast with your mom and Lena." He admitted looking at the box of donuts that sat in the middle of them in the rental car.

"We did this in San Diego," Callie said, "when it was just me and you before my soccer games. Lena would get so mad that you fed me sugar before a game or a tournament."

"It was our little tradition," Mike said. "I'm really sorry that I left you and B hanging all those years."

"Daddy," Callie said softly, "I understand. It had to of been hard for Mom to leave you for Lena like that."

"I still should've been there," Mike said regretfully. "I still should've called more."

"Daddy, stop beating yourself up." Callie said, "Brandon and I, we understand and we don't think any less of you for it. Sure maybe at the time we did, but it's just because we missed you. We've forgiven you though. Both of us."

"Your mom told me that you were struggling with the divorce still when Ben came into the picture," Mike said, "I'm sorry."

"Daddy," Callie said, "really stop apologizing for stuff. I _know_ you love me. So does B."

Mike nodded, "I uh got you something," he said, "since we're missing your birthday by a week."

The father pulled out a box from his sweatshirt pocket and handed it to his daughter, "Oh my god," Callie said softly, "You didn't have to."

"I saw it and thought of you," he said as she looked at the necklace in the box. "And don't worry, it wasn't too expensive, but I'm still not telling you how much I spent on it."

"Thank you Daddy," Callie said softly and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "This is sweet."

"I'm glad you like it, Cal." Mike said with a smile.

* * *

"The website is down," one of Ben's business partners came in around lunch time.

Ben looked up from the paperwork he was going over, "What do you mean the website is down?" Ben asked.

"It crashed," Jonah, his business partner said. "We can't get onto the server."

"Shit," Ben said under his breath, very aware that his youngest nephew was in the room. "How long has it been down?"

"Ten minutes," Jonah said.

"Fuck," Ben said under his breath again, "ten minutes and you didn't think about telling me?"

"At first we just thought it was the computers that needed to be restarted," his other business partner Raider came in hearing the explicative under Ben's breath, "and then we thought it was the server. And now, we're finding out that it's the entire website... _annnd _the server."

"Please stay calm," Jonah said watching Ben fume. "For the sake of our employees and the sake of your teenage nephew." He added reminding the man that Jude was in his office.

"Alright," Ben said looking over at Jude who wasn't really paying attention to anything except the handheld game in front of him while listening to music. "I'll bring it back up, " he said roughly running his hand through his hair. "Sarah, I need you to postpone my meeting with Emily."

"She's already in the conference room," Sarah said.

Ben started walking to the conference room, "Hi," he said in a hurry.

"Hi," the lawyer said seeing the man visibly distraught. "What's up?"

"The entire website and server went down," Ben said, "I need to bring it back up. I have to postpone this meeting."

"Ben," Emily said seeing how stressed out he was, "do I need to take Jude with me?"

"No, no, I should have it back up in two hours tops," he said. "I just - what's up? Why this impromptu meeting?"

"You're being sued." Emily said simply.

"What?" Ben said, "What for?"

"When are you going to give your editors and reporters the plagiarism talk that you probably heard every semester in college?" She asked in a serious professional tone.

"God dammit," Ben said under his breath.

"I really hope you aren't talking that way in front of our nephew," Emily said, "Lena will have your behind."

"He's listening to music playing a video game," Ben said sitting down.

"Go bring the website and server back up," Emily said standing up coming behind him rubbing his shoulders. "Then we'll talk about this."

Ben took a deep breath and said, "Okay."

"Also, somebody by the name Lilliana Rosemont got in contact with me knowing that I'm your lawyer and said she wanted to speak to you. I'm not sure why she needed to talk to me about it. Does that name ring a bell?" Ben's eyes went wide and his entire body went stiff. Emily rubbing the man's shoulders felt the stiffness, "Ben? Who is it?"

* * *

"Alright," Stef said opening the door to Callie's dorm room, "here we are."

Callie took a deep breath, closed her eyes, counted to three, and then walked into the dorm room to see that her roommate was already in the room.

"You must be Callie Foster," the girl said.

"I am," Callie said putting her soccer bag on the empty bed.

"My name is Bailey James," she said, "I'm your sophomore roommate and teammate on the soccer team." She added warmly. "Welcome to Penn State."

"Thank you," Callie said softly. "These are my parents."

"You can call us Stef, Lena, and Mike," the man said as he stuck his hand out as the women nodded their heads.

"Yeah, no need for formalities," Stef added.

"It makes her feel old," Lena jokingly added shaking the girl's hand.

Bailey laughed, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing," she said, "but this is really funny."

Callie smiled softly, "So uh, I take it this empty bed is mine?" She said.

"Oh yeah, I hope you don't mind." Bailey said.

"No, no, it's cool." Callie said. "Just wanted to clarify."

"For sure," Bailey said. "Definitely. I have to go meet up with my parents for lunch. So I'll give you four the room."

"Sounds good," Callie said, "uh it was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting to you too, Foster. Welcome to the team." Bailey said. "And it was nice meeting you three as well," she said shaking the three parents' hands again before leaving the room.

"She seems nice," Mike said once she left the room.

"Yeah, really sweet," Lena added wrapping her arm around Stef's shoulders.

"Which is good," Stef said. "It'll make living here easier."

Callie nodded and turned to her soccer bag on the bed, "Yeah," Callie said softly trying to discreetly wipe a tear away, but Lena caught it.

"Hey slug-a-bug," she said softly, "are you okay?"

Callie tried to brush it off by saying, "Oh yeah, I'm fine."

"Baby," Lena said as another tear escaped her eye. "Talk to us, let us up there," she said pointing to Callie's head.

Now both Stef and Mike were alert to what was going on, "It's okay sweets," Stef said. "You can tell us."

"Yeah kiddo," Mike said, "we're here for you."

Callie turned around to her three parents, still trying to hold back tears, "It-it just hit me," she said. "Everything just hit me. I'm _really_ going to miss you."

The moms were surrounding Callie immediately comforting her and it took Mike a moment to crouch before her to grab her hand, "We love you," Stef whispered into her eldest daughter's ear. "We love you so much."

"We're always going to be here for you," Mike said. "We're going to miss you too."

"It's not going to be easy without you," Lena said, "but this is a good thing. You growing up and moving out is a good thing."

The moms simultaneously kissed her temples and Callie looked down at her father and smiled softly, "We love you kiddo," he said reiterating his ex wife's words.

The four of them stayed in that position for awhile before getting up and setting up Callie's side of the dorm room. Every so often with Stef and Mike sharing knowing looks that this wasn't going to be easy for them either, but it was for the best.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Emily said to Ben as they were making dinner for their nephews and niece, "Lilliana Rosemont is your dad's girlfriend who sexually assaulted you at 16?"

"Yes," Ben said simply as he was putting the cheese on the homemade mac and cheese that they were making.

"Don't you have a restraining order against her?" Emily asked.

"It was only for five years," Ben said putting the pan in the oven. "It's been about seven since it happened, so she could've contacted me directly I guess."

"Why didn't you get a permeant one?" Emily asked.

"Because I didn't have you as a lawyer when I was 16," he said grabbing a beer out of the refrigerator. "Because my dad figured that she wouldn't contact us after she spent time in jail. Because my dad didn't think things through."

"Okay," Emily said softening her voice. "I'm not just your lawyer, I'm your girlfriend as well."

"When did you become my personal lawyer?" Ben asked. "Because we hired you for the company."

"And everybody in San Diego County knows that," Emily said. "She figured I was the only person she could contact to get in touch with you. So we'll set up a time in the near future, she'll say what she has to say and then we'll get on with our lives. Who knows? Maybe you can get some closure out of this. I mean you admit to the fact that she's the reason why you're having nightmares. You need closure."

Ben stared at his girlfriend understandingly because she was right. He was about to say something when they heard the front door open and shut.

"I'm home," Brandon called out into the house, "what smells so good?"

"Dinner," Emily said as the teenager came into the kitchen. "It should be ready soon."

"Cool," Brandon said. "I'm starving."

"Why don't you go wash up and get your siblings?" Emily suggested. "It should be ready in like ten minutes."

"Sounds like a plan," he said kissing his aunt's cheek and giving his uncle a fist bump.

When Brandon left the room, Emily said, "He seems to be doing better."

"He probably is just processing it all," Ben said. "It's not an easy thing to process. I know Leo struggled with it when I left. I can't imagine if it were a twin. They understand each other better than most people do."

"Yeah, you're right." Emily said, "So Lilliana Rosemont... should I make it a go?"

"Can I think about it?" Ben asked. "I mean, can I?"

"Of course baby," Emily whispered into a kiss.

The two stood their kissing for a few minutes, it was really some of the only time they had alone. Emily pulled away when she heard footsteps of her nephews and niece. She knew they couldn't stand it when they caught their moms making out in the kitchen like a couple of teenagers; she couldn't imagine how they would feel seeing their aunt and uncle doing the same thing in the same kitchen.

"What's for dinner?" Jude asked coming into the kitchen.

"Homemade mac and cheese," Emily answered as Ben pulled it out of the oven. "We promised your moms that we'd feed you something decent while they're gone."

"Sweet," Jesus said coming into the kitchen pulling out the ketchup from the refrigerator.

Ben's eyes went wide, "Why are you pulling out the ketchup?" He asked.

"You didn't know?" Mariana asked coming into the kitchen, "Jesus puts ketchup on everything."

Ben made a cringe face, "Look," the man said, "I can't judge you because I once was the kid who put ketchup on broccoli, but how mad does your mama get when you do this?"

"She just get irritated," Jesus said. "No biggie."

Ben rolled his eyes and said, "Well my mother would be insulted if you put ketchup on her homemade mac and cheese recipe." He said.

"Who said she had to know?" Jesus said and earned a glare from his uncle, "Okay, okay." He said with his hands up putting the ketchup back in the refrigerator.

Everyone sat down and started dishing up dinner, but instead of it's normal chaos, it was actually pretty quiet compared to the muttering in Spanish from Jesus and Mariana with Ben trying to be the moderator.

"Guys," Ben said, "look I know you're wanting closure from your birth mom," he said to Mariana, "but you can't expect him to." He said gesturing to Jesus.

"Thank you," the boy said.

"And you can't expect your sister to _not_ want closure." Ben said looking at the boy.

"How could you not want closure?" Mariana asked.

"How was your days?" Emily asked Brandon and Jude trying to change the subject. "Good?"

"Yeah, yeah," the two boys said nodding their heads.

"Because she is a addict and a user and she never cared about us," Jesus said back to his sister. "Because if she did, she would've gotten her act together."

"Everybody makes mistakes Jesus," Mariana said. "We did. A lot of them. And this family forgave us. Maybe it's time we should forgive Ana and move on."

"She's a user." Jesus spat making Emily look at Ben to stop this argument before it went somewhere it shouldn't have. "She doesn't care about us. It just makes her feel good that she apologizes. It's all about her and her guilty conscious."

"Hey," Ben said, "can maybe we have this conversation after dinner? Where your brothers can have a choice whether or not they want to listen to this conversation?"

The twins looked from each other to everyone else at the table, "Sorry," they both muttered.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the evening?" Emily asked. "Anything cool?"

"Jesus and I were going to play this new video game we got," Jude said looking at his roommate with a hopeful smile.

"Yeah," Jesus said ruffling Jude's hair, "if that's okay with you two?" He asked his uncle and aunt who were in charge of them for the week that their moms were gone.

"Yeah," Ben said, "we have some work stuff to handle."

"I was just going to watch some Netflix and hang out in my room," Mariana said softly.

"What about you Brandon?" Emily asked.

"Uhh well, Callie text me on my way home and said that she wanted to FaceTime and then I was just going to work on this song that the band and I are working on." He said looking up at his aunt.

"Already?" Jesus asked. "She's been gone two days."

"Jesus," Emily gently chastised. "I think that's great buddy," Emily said looking at Brandon.

Brandon nodded, "So who's suing you?" Brandon asked. "I mean, if you have work stuff to work on and she's your company lawyer..."

"The Chronicle," the couple said in unison. "My reporters can't seem to not plagiarize." Ben muttered. "Lucky it wasn't the whole article this time."

"That sucks," Brandon said taking a bite of his food.

"Did you get the server and website back up?" Jude asked. "I know that caused a lot of chaos in the office today; especially the newsroom."

"Yeah," Ben smiled softly, "everything is backed up. We had a lot of traffic going on the website."

"Does it have anything to do with the fact that your reporter plagiarized?" Brandon asked.

"Probably," Ben said. "I'm not too sure."

"Well, we'll be quite tonight and be sure to stay out of your hair." Brandon said looking at his siblings who nodded in agreement.

"I mean, if you need something," Ben clarified.

"But, only if we need something," Brandon said in a voice that reminded Ben a lot of Stef.

Silence fell in the kitchen before Jesus looked up at Mariana and said, "Fine."

"What?" Mariana asked.

"When moms get home, let's get closure from on drug addict of a birth mom," he said making everybody at the table look at him. "It's time."

Mariana nodded with a soft smile, "It's time," she repeated.

* * *

"What looks good?" Stef asked her wife and daughter as they sat at a restaurant for dinner.

"Food," Callie said simply making her moms laugh.

Lena grabbed the girl's hand from across the table, "You doing okay baby?" The curly haired woman asked.

"If you're referring to earlier when I broke down crying than, yeah, I'm better." Callie said softly.

"That's good," Lena said caressing the back of the girl's hand with her thumb. "You seemed better when we left for a little while."

"Everything just sunk in at once," Callie said. "And then the front I've been keeping up all week just came tumbling down when the realization that in a few days, you'll be leaving and I won't see you two or my dad until Thanksgiving and-and I wonder if this is going to work."

"Okay, it's okay," Stef said putting down the menu and moving to the other side of Callie who was trying to focus on her breathing as the small rant came to an end. The mother helped her daughter through a small panic attack and then wrapped her arms around her.

When Callie's breathing settled down and she placed her head on Stef's chest, Lena took over, "First off, you never should have to feel like you have to have a front up for us," the principal said. "We want you to feel like you can come to us, _no matter what,_" she emphasized.

"Yes," Stef agreed kissing her daughter's temple.

"And secondly," Lena continued, "we are _so_ proud of you. You worked so hard to get here baby."

"Really hard," Stef agreed with her wife again.

"And it's going to be hard to say goodbye in a few days," Lena said. "But, we'll always be there for you from San Diego." She smiled softly at her oldest daughter.

Callie nodded and said, "I love you."

"I love you too," the couple said in unison.

"I'm really hungry," Callie said after a few moments of silence.

Stef let go of her daughter and moved back to sit next to her wife as she said, "Yeah, me too."

"You two are always hungry," Lena joked to the mother-daughter duo.

"We live extremely active lives." Stef defended.

"Well, I do," Callie said jokingly earning a glare from her mother.

Lena chuckled kissing her wife's cheek, "At least she didn't call you old," the curly haired woman said.

"How can I call you old when you're going to be a mother of a newborn within the next year?" Callie asked smiling fondly of the fact that she was going to be a big sister soon.

The couple smiled softly at the girl, "Yeah," Lena said softly as the waiter came to take their orders, "how can she?"

"When are you two starting the process?" Callie asked when the waiter walked away.

"When we get back," Lena said as Stef grabbed her hand under the table.

"It's going to be an adjustment to the other twins and Jude," Callie said. "A baby crying all throughout the night."

"Yeah," Stef chuckled, "Mariana surely won't get the beauty sleep she says she needs."

Lena chuckled and said, "She's fond of the idea though."

"Who isn't?" Callie asked, "Babies are beautiful."

"Yeah," Stef said looking fondly at her wife, "they are."

* * *

Ben knocked on Brandon's door that night and when he heard a muffled, come in, he opened the door to see his nephew sitting in front of his keyboard.

"Hey bud," Ben said walking in.

"Hey Uncle Ben, what's up?" Brandon asked.

"I just wanted to check in," Ben said. "You've been quiet since Callie left."

Brandon shrugged, "As creepy as it sounds, it feels like part of me left when she did." He tried to explain.

"Maybe if you explained it differently, it wouldn't come off so creepy." Ben joked as he flipped through the vinyls next to the keyboard. "But, I think I get what you mean."

Brandon chuckled, "Callie understands me better than anybody, myself included sometimes. And now, she's just gone." He said. "It was that twin telepathy at its finest. I would know when she wasn't doing well, she would know when I wasn't." Ben smiled at the boy, "And now she's gone," Brandon continued. "They got us ready for this all through school and yet it's still hard for me."

"What do you mean? How'd they get you ready for it?" Ben asked, not understanding.

"My mama thought it would be good for our growth if we had different classes," Brandon began to explain. "That way we had two separate groups of friends and we weren't dependent on each other all the time. In high school, we had the same teachers just different periods. Like when I would have math, she would have English, and vice versa. That way if we needed help with our homework, at least one of us would understand it."

Ben nodded understanding now, "I think I get it," he said.

"Yeah," Brandon said, "but it's better for her to do it this way. She wouldn't be motivated here."

"What makes you say that?" Ben asked.

"She would be stuck," he tried to explain, "relying on our moms and our dad. She wants to become an Olympic soccer player, she wants to play in the big leagues, this is her home. She feels comfortable here. It's why I'm moving to LA too. I'm too comfortable here."

"Ahh," Ben said understanding, "I get it now."

"Yeah," Brandon said turning back to his keyboard.

"I'll let you get back," Ben said, "I just wanted to check in."

"Thank you," Brandon said. "I appreciate that."

Ben reached out and squeezed the boy's shoulder, it made Brandon inwardly smile because that's something his mom would do, but he didn't bring it up because he knew better than that.

Ben walked out of the room and walked back downstairs to see Emily texting somebody, he sat down next to her on the pull-out bed and asked, "Who are you texting?"

"Oh, it's just an ongoing text message I have with Stef and Lena," Emily said.

"You have one of those too?" Ben asked wrapping his arm around his girlfriend.

"I think it started with me," Emily said placing her head on his shoulder. "How's B?"

"Good," Ben said, "I think he's processing a lot right now."

"That would make sense." Emily said. "Did you check on the other kids?"

"Yeah before talking with Brandon," Ben said. "Jesus and Jude are playing a video game and Mariana is watching some vampire thing on her computer."

Emily chuckled, "Can you imagine this in ten years with your own?" She asked.

Ben chuckled, "I try not to think out that far," he said. "It scares me a little."

"But, is that something you would want?" Emily asked.

Ben nodded, "Yeah, eventually." He said. "I've always wanted to be a dad and a husband."

Emily smiled, "I didn't always want to be a mom or a wife." She said, "And then Lena met Stef who had Brandon and Callie. That kind of changed my perspective on things," She smiled fondly thinking of her oldest niece and nephew.

Ben started running his fingers through Emily's curly hair and they fell into a peaceful silence, Emily was enjoying Ben's hands gently running through her hair and then Ben said, "I want closure."

Emily looked up, "With Lilliana?" She asked.

Ben nodded, "Yeah, it's time." He said.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked.

"I just want the nightmares to stop," Ben said running his fingers through Emily's hair, "it's time for closure."

"Is it what the younger twins were arguing about?" Emily asked.

"Kinda," he said nodding his head.

"Okay," Emily said, "do you want me there with you?"

Ben shook his head, "I think this is something I have to do alone," he said as Emily nodded in understanding.

The sat in silence for a little while longer, then the thought occurred to Emily, "When are you going to tell our sisters?" She asked, speaking her thoughts.

Ben chuckled, "After it's all done and over with," he said. "Stef and Lena worry like no other."

Emily chuckled, "I'll set it up then." She said.

"Thanks my love," he said kissing her forehead. "I really appreciate it."

* * *

A couple of days later, Stef stood with tears in her eyes out on the balcony of their hotel room. She had been distant for the past couple of days helping Callie settle down and as it hit Callie a couple of days before it hit Stef that morning when she woke up.

She was nursing a cup of coffee when she felt Lena's arms wrap around her waist and had her chin on the police officer's shoulder.

"Hi love," Stef said trying to hide the fact that she had been crying for the last ten minutes.

"Hi babe," Lena said kissing her wife's ear. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby." Stef said.

"You've been crying," Lena said.

"Saying goodbye to one today and another one in two weeks," Stef said, "They never said parenting was going to be _this_ hard."

"Saying goodbye isn't always easy," Lena comforted, "but this is how they grow into the strong, smart, beautiful individuals we raised them to be."

Stef took a deep breath, "I'm glad that we don't have to do this for another two years." The blonde said. "I can't imagine back-to-back years of this."

"I think it'll be harder on me next year than you," Lena said making Stef turn in her arms and look at her confused. "Brandon and Callie are your babies, you had a special connection with them since conception. It might be easier with the others."

"That makes me sound like an ass," Stef said leaning forward into Lena's shoulder.

"No, it will still probably be hard on you, but our big twins are different for you." Lena said.

Stef smiled into Lena's shoulder when Jesus and Mariana first came to live with them she referred to Brandon and Callie as the big twins and Jesus and Mariana as the little twins.

"I pray to whoever is out there that we don't have another set of twins," Stef said from her spot with her face buried in Lena's shoulder. "If we do, I'm blaming Ben."

Lena chuckled, "If you keep talking like that, we will get twins." The curly haired woman said.

"I'm too old for twin infants again at least I was in my late twenties, early thirties when I had B and Callie." Stef said.

"You know you just called yourself old, right?" Lena said kissing her wife's head.

"Yeah, I realized that I'm getting there when I couldn't manage to do even a half a night of making love to you last night." Stef said.

Lena smiled when they got back from dinner with Callie the night before, they had done some talking, and talking led to kissing, the kissing led to a full on make out session, that led to clothes coming off, and it lasted two hours before Stef had falling asleep when they were cuddling afterwards.

"It was fine baby," Lena said rubbing circles on her wife's lower back. "I understand."

Stef smiled up at the love of her life, she still couldn't wrap her mind around how this woman could love her for everything that she is, everything that makes her who she is. She considered herself beyond lucky.

* * *

"If you ever need us please call," Stef said to Callie as the three of them were saying goodbye. "Promise me?"

"Yes Mom," Callie said. "Though not sure what you'll be able to do about it with a country between us."

"Don't act like Lena's parents aren't that far away," Stef said as Lena went to hug her.

"Bye slug-a-bug," Lena said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Callie said burying herself into her mama like Stef had about an hour before.

Lena unwrapped herself from her oldest daughter and Mike came and took that place, "Goodbye kiddo," he said. "I'm always a phone call away if you just need to talk."

"Thanks Daddy," she said. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said kissing the top of his daughter's head.

That left Stef and Callie to say goodbye, between Lena and Mike, they were playfully taking bets, on which one of the strong, independent women would breakdown first.

"Mom," Callie said.

"You could've done community college and made this easier." Stef said.

"Mom," Callie said again. Stef made eye contact with her daughter. "You're going to miss your flight if you don't just hug me goodbye."

Stef went to hug her daughter, "I love you my baby." She said crying a little.

"I love you too," Callie said. "I promise to call often."

"And video chat?" Stef asked.

"Yeah and video chat," Callie confirmed.

"Okay," Stef said letting go, seeing Callie's roommate who was taking Callie back to campus from the airport waiting. "We'll call when we land in California."

Callie nodded, "Please do, tell the others I love them." She said.

"We will baby," Lena said. "We better get through security."

"Bye," Stef said letting go of her daughter.

"Bye Mommy," Callie murmured as Stef placed multiple kissing on the girl's head.

Callie stood there and watched as her parents walked through security and noticed how her mom held her mama just a little closer and felt a tear roll down her face. Her roommate came up behind her when Stef, Lena, and Mike were out of sight and said, "You ready Foster?"

Callie nodded, "Yeah," she said turning around, "I am."

* * *

**A/N2:** Gave you guys a longer chapter because I'm not sure when I'll be able to write in the coming weeks. The semester is coming to a rapid end and once Thanksgiving weekend is over with (that's filled with family, food, beer, and football), the rest of the semester goes downhill in a fast tornado like way and I need to study a lot. So you may not see me until closer to Christmas. Just a casual heads up.

Thank you again for the love and support - looking forward to continuing this story.


	15. The Road To Closure & Disagreements

**A/N:** To answer questions, the reason why Callie called Lena by her name instead of Mama to Mike is because out of pure second nature I did that. Y'see, my folks are divorced and my mom is remarried (to a man, but you get where I'm coming from) and sure I call my stepfather Dad when my father isn't around and his name when my father is around, but it was second nature in this story. I apologize for that.

Anyway, a preview: Stef and Lena are back in San Diego and the younger twins are getting ready to get some closure with Ana and Ben with Lilliana. Plus more. So please sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: The Road To Closure &amp; Disagreements**

"This is the donor agreement contract," Lena said sliding it over to her brother-in-law.

Ben took the contract, quickly scanned it, and then took the pen out of his dress pants pocket, signed the contract.

"Anything else?" He asked softly looking between his sister and sister-in-law.

"Not right now no," Stef said noticing how tense her brother was, "we'll let you know when to do y'know..."

"Jack off into a cup?" Ben said with a straight face while nodding, "Sounds good."

Stef made a small face, making both him and Lena laugh, "So are you doing anything tonight?" Lena asked Ben changing the subject.

"Uhh yeah," he said, "I'm taking your sister out on a date."

He was only telling half of the truth, yes, he was taking Emily out on a date, but that was after he made some closure with Lilliana.

"Oooh," Stef said, "anything fun?"

"Just pizza and mini golf." He said, "She hinted at it a couple of weeks ago."

"That's how our dad used to spend time with her when she was little," Lena said.

"It's how my mama and I too." Ben said smiling fondly.

"How's she doing?" Lena asked, they hadn't really asked since the graduation party about his mama.

He smiled a little, "She's restless," he answered. "Really restless. My mom doesn't let her do too much of anything now. She's slowly going back into work. But other than that, she's good."

"That's really good news," Lena said, "I'm really glad. That must've been scary."

"Yeah," he said, "it really was. I don't think I've seen my mom so broken in my life."

"But, it's happened before?" Stef asked as she placed a soft hand to the small of Lena's back.

"Yeah, but she knew that my mama would come out of that one," he said, "we didn't know this time."

Stef nodded, "Well, we're really glad she's okay." The blonde said.

Ben nodded, "I better get going," he said. "I'll see you both tomorrow?" He asked, "You for lunch," he pointed at Stef, "and you for dinner?" He pointed at Lena knowing it was a Thursday night and he and Emily would be over to spend the weekend with the family the next day. The couple nodded, "Cool," he said side-hugging Lena and the doing the handshake with Stef that they came up with one night when they were stargazing.

_Small Flashback._

Stef and Ben were lying in the Adams Foster backyard both with a beer and they were staring at the stars when something occurred to Stef, "Why do you always hug Lena and give me a fist bump?" She asked.

Ben looked over at Stef and shrugged, "I don't know," he said. "You don't seem like a physical mushy type." He said, "I don't want to make you feel overwhelmed."

"You don't seem like the physical mushy type," Stef pointed out.

"I'm super introverted that it's awkward sometimes," he responded, "Sometimes I like it when people hug me while other times, I don't."

Stef hummed, "You know why I've always wanted a sibling?" She asked wrapping her arm around him silently telling him that she was different with family.

Ben shook his head, "Why?" He asked curiously.

"Because I've always wanted to do a special handshake with somebody." She said, "Y'know like some siblings do?"

Ben smiled, "I have one with Leo," he said.

"Really?" Stef asked, "How does it go?"

"Fist on fist, fist on fist again, fist bump, blow up." He answered, "Pretty standard."

"What if we had one?" Stef asked.

Stef could hear the smile on her brother's face when he asked, "Really?"

"Yeah," Stef said, "like side high five, backhand high five, fist bump, awkward normal handshake, pull in for a hug?"

Ben smiled, "Yeah," he said.

_Small Flashback Ended._

"See you tomorrow Ben," Stef said. "Have fun with Emily."

"Thanks Stef," he said as he picked up his car keys and walked towards the door.

When the door shut, Stef said, "I think there's something more going on tonight."

"What do you mean?" Lena said leaning back more into her wife.

"He seemed tense and it's not because of the being a donor thing," she said. "It's something else."

"He's allowed to have off days," Lena said turning to face her wife, "Maybe he's having an off day."

Stef was looking off into the distance, "Yeah, maybe you're right." She said pulling Lena onto her lap.

Lena hummed in appreciation for Stef pulling her into her lap, "We're going to have a baby," the curly haired woman said.

"I can't wait to see you glowing and pregnant," Stef said kissing Lena's neck.

Lena moaned softly, "Yeah?" She asked.

Stef continued kissing up and down Lena's neck until she heard two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs, "Oh," they heard two voices and they looked up and it was their youngest twins with worried looks on their faces.

"C'mere babies," Lena said getting off of Stef's lap.

"Was Uncle Ben just here?" Jesus asked sitting across from them.

"Oh yeah," Stef said. "He came over to sign some donor agreements."

"Oh? Does that mean you can start trying soon?" Mariana asked and the couple nodded.

"So what's up my loves?" Stef asked.

"We were wondering if you put any thought into us getting closure with Ana?" Jesus asked for the both of them.

Stef and Lena shared a look; when they got home from Pennsylvania, the twins brought it to their attention, and they said they'd think and talk about it. And they had - it seemed like a good idea.

"We have talked about it," Stef said. "And we think it is a good idea for you to get some closure with her."

"But?" Jesus asked knowing there was more.

"But, both Mom and I will be with you," Lena said. "I think we want closure as well."

The twins nodded and then Mariana said, "So how do you go about setting this up?"

"Well," Stef said, "Mama is talking with Bill and he will set it up."

"Sounds good," the twins said in unison.

"Alright, go up and we'll call you when dinner is ready." Lena said.

The twins left the room and Stef put her face in her hands - going between thinking about her babies and how weird her brother was acting.

* * *

Ben walked into Fisher and Adams Business Law Group's office about twenty minutes later.

"Hi Ben," Emily's partner Leroy Fisher said. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Ben said. "A little nervous," he added.

"I'm sure you are," Leroy said. "Facing your uh rapist has to be nerve-wracking."

"But, I'm ready for some closure," Ben said. "My therapist thinks I'm ready too."

"Go get 'em," Leroy said playfully punching the man's bicep. "I'm rooting for you."

"Thanks man," Ben said with a smile as he walked into the conference room where Emily was sitting looking at her laptop. "Hey love," he said softly.

"Hi baby," Emily said standing up to quickly kiss him. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Ben said adjusting his tie and a few minutes later a woman in her early to mid thirties came into the room.

"Hi," Emily said, "you must be Lilliana Rosemont."

"I am," the woman said softly.

"Please, come in," Emily said. "Have a seat."

Lilliana sat across from Ben and next to Emily and then made eye contact with the man, "Wow, you uh, grew up into a really good looking man." She said.

"Thank you," Ben said. "It's uh nice to see you again."

"You don't have to be nice," Lilliana said. "I know I've probably caused a lot of hell for you and your father."

Ben nodded, "Just for me," he said. "My father refused to talk about it."

"Refused?" Lilliana said, "As in-"

"He died about six and a half months ago," Ben said. "Heart attack."

"Oh wow," she said, "I'm sorry."

"I was able to connect with my sister and her family," Ben said, "so it had its upsides and downs." Lilliana nodded and an awkward silence filled the room, and finally he asked, "Why'd you do it? Why did you ra- force me to have sex with you?"

"Because your father was a gentleman," she said making you look confused. "Drinking turns me on and he wouldn't have sex with me that night because I was drunk out of my mind. And then I guess, I went to you because you were small and scrawny."

"How would you know that?" Ben asked. "If you were so drunk, how would you know that my father wouldn't have sex with you?"

"Because the temporary restraining order was only against you," she said. "He visited me often when I was in jail. He took my calls often."

Ben nodded, "Why did you want to see me now?" He asked.

"Because I owe you an apology," she said. "When I was 23, I was trying to figure out who I was, what made me well me. I did a lot of thinking when I was in jail and I can't believe that I did that to you."

Ben rubbed his face roughly, "It put a strain in my relationship with my father," he said. "For awhile he wouldn't even look at me."

Lilliana's eyes went wide, "I'm _so_ sorry Ben." She said. "I'm really, really sorry."

"It's fine," he said, "I forgive you."

"You do?" Lilliana asked.

Ben nodded, "I know what it's like to be 23 and trying to figure things out. Don't get me wrong, I would never encourage this behavior, but I'm finding that your twenties are the hardest years of your life. Harder than adolescent and teenager years." He said. "You're trying to figure out how the hell to be a functioning adult without your parents constantly over your shoulder telling you how things need to be done. It's not easy. I'm experiencing that and I'm two and a half years into the working world."

Lilliana licked her lips and said, "You're a great man," she said.

"I try to be," he said a little uneasily.

"I just wanted to apologize." Lilliana said getting up.

"Thank you," Ben said discreetly grabbing Emily's hand underneath the table. "I needed the closure."

Lilliana shook both Ben and Emily's hand and walked out of the conference room, Ben looked off into space for a moment.

"Ben honey?" Emily said looking at him. It was almost like he did a 180 degree turn from when Lilliana was in the room. "Ben," she said again. "Benjamin," she said knowing that might snap him out of his haze.

"Something doesn't feel right," he said when he did snap out of his haze.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked, noticing that her boyfriend was going into a delayed panic attack and when he blacked out, the only thing that Emily knew to do is to call Stef and Lena to come help.

* * *

Ben's eyes popped open and he saw that he had a damp cloth over his forehead and around his neck.

"Oh thank god," Emily breathed.

_"Is he awake now?" Lena said over the speaker phone._

"Yes sissy," Emily said. "You guys don't have to come if you don't want to."

_"Like hell, we are aren't." Stef said driving, "We'll be there in five minutes."_

"What the hell happened?" Ben asked.

"You blacked out baby," Emily said. "Delayed panic attack."

"And you called our sisters?" Ben said not believing it.

"Yeah," she said. "I meant to just call Lena, but then she kind of freaked out and Stef got involved."

"C'mere baby," Ben mumbled with his arm up and taking the damp cloths off of his neck and forehead, "lemme hold you." He wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"It's fine." Emily said, "I'm glad you're okay."

The young couple enjoyed the silence before they heard Stef's voice, "Hi Leroy, our siblings?"

"In the conference room," he said. "Go easy on your brother."

Stef and Lena came in hand in hand into the conference room, "Oh baby," Lena murmured.

"Are you okay?" Stef asked seriously.

"I'm fine," Ben said looking at his sister.

"So I can do this now?" Stef asked before preceding to smack his bicep.

"What the hell?" Ben mumbled.

"You scared the hell outta me," Stef said.

"I'm sorry Stef," he said lowly trying to stand up.

"No, sit back down," Stef said. "Really? You were just at our house before coming here! You couldn't have told us?!"

"Stef," Lena said trying to calm her wife down when she noticed that he brother-in-law was tensing up.

"No Lena," Stef said, "what do you think it means when we said we're _always _here for you, huh?" She asked her brother.

"Last time I checked, I didn't _need_ to check in with you," Ben said with his jaw tightened. "I'm your _brother_ not your _child._"

"I don't care," Stef said. "We promised your moms we'd take care of you. Since well Dad couldn't anymore."

"Since when did Dad ever take care of me?" Ben asked as Emily slipped out of his arms and Lena took her sister into her arms because they both know how heated this was going to get.

"You know what I mean," Stef said.

"Actually, I don't," Ben actually stood up and towered over Stef before he said, "Look, I'm 23 years old. Twenty-fucking-three. My mothers - don't know anything about the Lilliana case," he said. "Neither do you," he said pointing directly into her chest, "all you know is that it happened. I _spared_ you the details. So when I say that I don't need to check in with you," his voice got higher and he poked Stef's chest harder, "I fucking mean it," he said.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. But, I didn't need that overprotective big sister that you were going to be. I didn't need you constantly asking me if I'm okay. I'm alive, of course I'm okay! You and Lena have five kids who need you. Your first priority _before _me is to make sure those _five_ kids are okay."

"Ben," Lena said softly as he breathing began to pick up again. The brother-sister duo were in an intense staring match.

"You have five kids," Ben reiterated when Stef's look turned into a _'how dare you'_ glare. "You have one kid who doesn't know how to live without his twin, you have another kid who think she's going to fuck it all up in Pennsylvania, you have two more kids who just want closure with their birth mom so they won't feel guilty around you two anymore, and you have another kid who questioning his entire existence right now. You _don't _need your little brother who's got his own problems and needed closure with his rapist to stand before that."

The room went still - Ben finally admitted to Lilliana as his rapist; instead of his father's girlfriend who forced him to have sex with her at 16.

"Ben," Stef said breaking the silence. "Little brother." She said softer.

Ben quickly picked up his jacket and walked out of the conference room, not quite wanting to believe that he admitted what he did right then and there.

"Ben," all three women said at the same time trying to stop him.

But, it was already too late.

* * *

A couple of days later, Stef, Lena, Jesus, and Mariana were walking into a restaurant to meet Ana - although Stef's mind was occupied on why she, her wife, or their baby sister haven't heard from her brother since he blew up and left.

"Thank you for meeting me," Ana said as they approached the table.

"For sure," Jesus said sitting down between his mama and his birth mom with his twin on the other side of his birth mom and their mom.

"Thank you for allowing them to meet me," Ana said to the moms, Stef and Lena nodded.

They looked at the menus and ordered food and then Ana started her speech, "I'm sorry," she started looking between the twins, "for not being the mother I should've been to you."

"We forgive you," Jesus said and Mariana nodded. "As much as we don't want to say it to your face, we would've never met our moms and siblings."

"When you were taking away from me for the last time," Ana began, "I always hoped that you'd find yourself with people like Stef and Lena."

The twins looked at their moms who were holding hands underneath the table, Lena had a soft smile on her face and Stef looked like she was somewhere else.

"We just wanted to say," Jesus spoke for his twin and himself, "we forgive you. For leaving us alone, for not being the mother you should. But, we found our family. Where we belong." He said grabbing Lena's other hand underneath the table, squeezing it and letting go, "We really came today for some closure."

"I understand," Ana said.

"We're sorry for your loss with Ian," Jesus said. He really was the public speaker of the two. "But y'know, ever since that night, we've had trouble looking our moms in the eye because we feel guilty on how we contacted you the last time... without their consent. We really need to focus on being a son and a daughter and a brother and a sister."

Ana nodded, "I understand." She said.

"But," Mariana jumped in, "we are very thankful that you did give birth to us and for all the relatively _good_ times we had with you." Jesus nodded in agreement.

"Also," Ana said now looking at Stef and Lena - making Lena squeeze Stef's hand, "I want to apologize to the both of you for causing the unnecessary drama in your family. I hope that you two can forgive me." The couple swallowed and nodded.

"It wasn't easy at first," Lena said for herself and her wife. "But, we've accepted that being the past." She offered a warm smile. It was a little forced, but she had to do something because Stef was not really in the conversation. She didn't necessarily like the fact that she was having lunch with two of her children's drug addict of a birth mom, but for once in seeing Ana - the woman was well put together. Cleaned up her act, so maybe this was a good thing.

"I want you to know that a huge reason why I wanted to see your children is because I wanted to properly say goodbye. I'm going to get out of San Diego, clean up my act, and start a new life elsewhere."

That managed to snap Stef out of her preoccupied mind, "Really?" Stef asked.

Ana nodded, "I'm moving to Sacramento." She said. "They have a good rehab program up there and they'll help me get back on my feet." Stef and Lena shared a look as she continued, "I'm kind of just stuck here in San Diego. Sometimes you gotta get out of your comfort zone long enough to make a change."

"If you don't mind me asking, why now?" Stef asked.

"I realized after Ian died that I need some sort of drastic change and this is it," she answered truthfully. "But, I wanted to properly say goodbye to Jesus and Mariana - give them closure."

And for the next hour and a half, that's what she did - gave her children the closure they all needed.

* * *

"Where could he be?" Stef asked as she paced back and forth in their bedroom that night.

"Who?" Lena asked without thinking.

"Who else?" Stef asked. "Ben."

"Maybe he needed to get away for a few days," Lena said folding the last of the laundry. "That had to of been a lot for him to handle."

"And he doesn't tell anybody?" Stef asked. "That doesn't sound like something Ben would do."

"Have you tried calling Kelly and Payton?" Lena asked. "Maybe he's with them."

"And if he's not?" Stef asked.

"Then don't you think they have a right to know that their son took off without telling anybody." Lena said.

Stef went to her nightstand and picked up her phone scrolling down to Kelly's name in her contacts, she worried a lot, even when it didn't call for it. So yeah, she was worried about her brother.

_"Hello?" Kelly's tired voice came over the phone._

"Hi Kelly, it's Stef," the cop said. "I'm sorry to bother you, but Ben just randomly took off on Thursday night and we were wondering if he was with you and Payton."

_"Uh no," Kelly said. "What happened?"_

Stef bit her lip, she knew that Ben hadn't told her about Lilliana, so she didn't want to sell him out, but there was no other way to explain what happened.

"Does the name Lilliana Rosemont sound familiar to you?" She asked, hoping that her father had some common sense in telling her.

_Kelly sighed, "Yeah, unfortunately it does," the doctor answered. "Frank told me when it happened. Ben doesn't know that we know though."_

Stef took a deep breath, "Well I guess, she contacted Emily and set up a professional meet up for him to get closure and he went into a delayed panic attack. And then Emily called us and then when we got their I kind of went off on him and then he blew up at me and then left. His phone keeps going straight to voicemail and he's not answering texts."

_"Did you go to his house?" Kelly asked._

"Emily did and he's not even responding to her," Stef said.

_There was another voice in the background that she was assuming to be Payton before Kelly asked, "Did you try his business partners?" She asked. "He doesn't go anywhere without telling them. Their respective wives call him like an unspoken spouse as a joke."_

"No, I guess I'll have to ask them. Though, I don't even know their names, so that should be interesting." Stef said running her hand through her hair.

_"Raider Jackson, Jonah McCallister, and Levi Todd." Kelly said. "The four of them are practically __inseparable."_

"Alright," Stef said taking a deep breath.

_"I'll text you over their numbers," she said. "They should know where he's at and please keep us in the loop."_

"Will do," Stef said as they hung up after saying goodbye.

"So?" Lena asked coming from behind Stef who had a hand on the dresser.

As she felt Lena's arms wrapped around her she actually fell apart, "Why did I have to go off on him?" Stef asked. "He would still be here if I just would've kept my foot out of my mouth."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up." Lena said getting her from the dresser to her lap seated on the bed.

"I should've listened to Leroy and been easy on him," she said. "But, he really did scare me."

"I know baby," Lena soothed, "I'm sure he's fine wherever he is."

Stef phone buzzed with the phone numbers from Kelly, "These are the numbers of his three business partners." Stef said softly. "Kelly said he doesn't go anywhere without telling them. Something about how their respective spouses joke around and say that he's an unspoken spouse."

"Do you want me to call them?" Lena asked kissing the back of her wife's neck.

Stef shook her head, "I got us into this, lemme get me out of it." She said.

"I'll stay with you," Lena said.

Stef nodded, "You should probably check in with Emily." She said.

The young woman had been pretty focused on her work since her boyfriend just randomly took off and it was something to be worried about.

"I'll go call her," Lena said. "You call his business partners."

Stef got up and looked at the text message:

**_Kelly:_**_ Here are the numbers. Please keep us updated._

Stef took a deep breath and clicked on the first number, it was Raider.

_It rang a couple of times before, "Raider Jackson," a deep voice came from the other line._

"H-hi Raider, this is Stef Adams Foster, Ben's sister." She said nervously.

_"Oh hi Stef," he said. "How can I help you?"_

"Uh, you wouldn't happen to know where Ben is by any chance do you?"

_"Uh no, he just said he needed a couple of personal days," the man said. "Which I couldn't blame him. He's the hardest working man here at The Opinionated Buzz." There was a voice in the background before he said, "Actually Stef, Jonah knows where he is."_

"Can I talk to him?" Stef asked. "I was going to call him next."

_"Sure," the man said, "hold on."_

_"Hi Stef," another deep voice came onto the phone. "Looking for Ben?"_

"Yeah, my wife and his girlfriend and I are pretty worried." Stef said.

_"He packed up his jeep and went up to Yosemite. Besides the ocean, that's where he can find peace. He seemed super distraught when he and I talked on the phone the other day."_

"Yosemite?" Stef asked. "That's over seven hours away."

_"Yeah, but camping and the nature is what brings him back to being the Benjamin Carlson that we want him to be."_

"Really?" Stef asked.

_"Yeah," Jonah said. "Just give him a few more days."_

"He had a huge panic attack before he left and you want me to _give_ him a few more days?" Stef asked incredulously. _  
_

_"Yeah and YOU also went off on him right after a panic attack." Jonah said. "With all due respect, you're the LAST person he wants to see."_

Stef took a deep breath, "Well he's going to have to deal with it."

_"What are you going to do? Drive to Yosemite? You know how big that national park is?"_

"So what?" Stef said, "I care about his safety."

_"Don't you have work tomorrow?" He asked._

"No, in fact I have the next two days off." Stef said. "It's called paid vacation leave. Thank you for telling me Jonah."

_"Yeah about that, I wasn't supposed to." He admitted._

"You did the right thing," Stef said as Lena came back out as they said goodbye.

"So?" Lena said.

"He's in Yosemite," Stef said. "And I'm going to go get him."

"Stef, he isn't one of our kids, he didn't run away." Lena tried to be logical. "He's a grown adult."

Stef looked at her wife and said, "I _need_ to make this right with him. I need him to know that I love him too much to watch him slip away."

"Stef honey, he knows you love him and he's not slipping away." Lena said as Stef was messing with her phone to call Kelly and Payton back.

_"Stef?" Kelly asked._

"He's in Yosemite," Stef said. "I'm going to make sure he's really okay."

_"Let one of us go with you," Kelly said. "Payton could use a good out because I have to work tomorrow."_

"You don't have to," Stef said.

_"Payton is the only one that can get through to him," Kelly said._

"Really?" Stef asked as she pulled Lena into cuddle for a moment.

_"Yeah," Kelly said. "She's his mama. He has a special place in his heart for her. Like I can tell your kids do for your wife."_

"Yeah," Stef said, mainly thinking about Callie and Lena's relationship. "Mamas are special." She added kissing Lena's cheek.

_"So pick her up on your way up?" Kelly asked._

"Yeah, I could use the company." Stef said.

_"Alright," Kelly said. "We'll see you in a couple of hours."_

Stef said her goodbye and packed just an overnight bag, "I'm going to miss you." Lena admitted.

"I know baby," Stef said. "But, I'll be back with you in my arms by tomorrow night."

"Just bring him back safely please." Lena said. "And don't provoke him anymore."

"I will and can't make any promises," Stef said. "And you get your sister to come over here and you take care of her." Lena nodded as Stef finished packing the overnight bag and then she kissed Lena passionately one more time. "I'll be back tomorrow night, I promise."

"I love you," Lena said.

"I love you too," Stef said kissing her just one more time before leaving.

* * *

Stef killed the engine in front of Ben's moms' house and took a deep breath. She then got out and went to the door a knocked.

Leo answered the door with a small smile, "Hi Mrs. Adams Foster." He said.

"Hey Leo," Stef answered, "y'know you can call me Stef. I'd actually prefer it if you did."

Leo nodded, "Come in, my moms are in the living room over there." He said. "And you're a good big sister just so you know. Ben's lucky to have you."

"Thank you, we're lucky to have each other," Stef said as she walked into the living room. "Hi," she said to the two women cuddled up on the couch.

"Stef," Kelly said, "Hi."

"Hey Stef," Payton said.

"Hey road trip buddy," Stef joked, "you ready?"

"Yeah sure am," Payton said unwrapping her arm from her wife and quickly gave Kelly a kiss goodbye. "I love you," she whispered quietly.

"I love you too," Kelly whispered back as she watched her wife get up and pick up an overnight bag. "Thank you," she then said to Stef. "For going to get our baby."

"Thank you for letting me steal your wife along the way," Stef said. "I really appreciate it."

"We'll keep you updated baby," Payton said softly running her hand through her wife's hair. "Promise."

"Thank you," Kelly whispered almost in tears.

Stef saw the woman almost in tears and she then felt a pang of guilt for letting this happen and the pang of guilt stayed there as she and Payton left the house and started their road trip.

* * *

The first hour was almost silent minus the radio and a few comments here and there about the song playing, but Payton wasn't stupid, she knew something was plaguing Stef's mind.

"Not to sound like a mom, but what are you thinking about?" Payton finally asked.

"It's nothing," Stef said, trying to keep to herself. Still blaming herself for getting both families into this situation.

_"If I just would've listened to Leroy and if I would've just been easy on him. He would've stayed. We wouldn't be in this __predicament right now," Stef thought. "I promised them I'd take care of their son and I drove him away. Why do I always have to stick my foot in my mouth?"_

"It's not your fault, you know." Payton said after a few moments. "It's not your fault he took off. Stop blaming yourself."

"If I was just easier on him," Stef said. "He's had a rough hand handed to him and he's taken it with nothing, but grace."

"He's just trying to figure himself out," Payton said. "He wants to know where he belongs in a family and he never knows where he belongs. He never did with Frank. He never does with us and now, he doesn't know where he fits with your and Lena's family."

"What do you mean he never did with our dad or you guys?" Stef asked confused.

"With your dad, he didn't know whether or not, he was wanting to be in his life because he knew he screwed things up with you and he wanted a do-over. Ben didn't know where he stood with your guys' dad. And with us," Payton paused and took a deep breath, "he-he took the backseat when Leo came. We know that and we feel pretty awful, but the boy came to us so broken. We understood why Ben wanted to graduate at 15 and move to San Diego. Or at least I did, Kelly sometimes just doesn't want to understand."

"If you don't mind me asking," Stef said refusing to put her foot in her mouth again, "if you knew that he was placed in the backseat when Leo came, why didn't you do something about it?"

"He refused to acknowledge it." Payton said. "Every time I would come and try to play video games with him or something, he'd always say something like 'you should really go spend time with Leo because he needs you more.' It was almost like he didn't feel like he was worth it."

Stef sighed, "Yeah his last words to me were and I quote, 'you have five kids, you have one kid who doesn't know how to live without his twin, you have another kid who think she's going to fuck it all up in Pennsylvania, you have two more kids who just want closure with their birth mom so they won't feel guilty around you two anymore, and you have another kid who questioning his entire existence right now. You _don't _need your little brother who's got his own problems and needed closure with his rapist to stand before that.' It actually made me pretty proud if he wasn't too busy poking his finger in my chest." She added wiping a tear from her eye.

"Woah," Payton said. "He's in therapy right?"

"Yeah," Stef said. "But, I'm not sure if it's kicked in yet."

"I remember the day Frank told Kelly about Lilliana, it was the first time he actually acknowledged her for more than just the mother of his child." Payton said after a few more minutes of silence. "It was the first time he'd come to LA, he would always meet Kelly halfway when he'd take Ben for the weekend. He came with his hat in his hand basically and they sat on our front porch for two hours. It was the longest that they were together that her sexuality didn't matter."

Stef nodded, "I'm sorry I provoked him," she said. "That wasn't my attention. I tend to have a habit of speaking without thinking."

"I think it says a lot that you're trying to fix it," Payton said.

"He's my brother," the cop said. "And I've been pretty worried about him lately."

"He's lucky to have a big sister like you," Payton said.

"I'm lucky to have a little brother like him," Stef murmured.

* * *

They couldn't get into the national park when they arrived, so they decided on breakfast and when they were done they both dozed off in the car for awhile before they were able to get into the park.

Payton spotted his jeep first, "There's his jeep." She said as Stef parked behind it.

When they got out of the car, they saw him staring at a fire, nursing a cup of coffee and Stef took a deep breath following Payton's lead. She had already gotten them in pretty deep and didn't want to cause more.

"Mama? Stef?" His hoarse voice asked when they approached the boy.

Stef really took a look at him, it was evident he hadn't shaved since the morning before he took off, and he actually looked like a lumberjack in the flannel shirt he was wearing, jeans, and boots.

"You scared us you know that?" Payton said reaching him, sitting next to him, and wrapping an arm around him. "Don't ever do that again."

"Sorry Mama," he murmured. "I just needed to be under the radar for a little bit."

"Your sister has been worried about you," Payton said looking up at Stef who stood there hesitantly with a lip between her teeth. It reminded Ben of that day that Callie showed up at his door to apologize for calling him a fool.

"I'm sorry Stef," he said softly raising his arm so that his sister could come sit next to him.

Stef did sit next to him and curled into him, much like she used to when she was younger and would curl into her dad.

"I should be the one who's sorry," Stef murmured from her spot in her brother's arm. "And I am."

"It's okay," Ben said kissing the top of his sister's head. "I forgive you."

"So does that mean you'll be coming home?" Payton said as she watched the sister-brother duo cuddle.

"I was already planning on coming home today." Ben said. "I was just using the last of my firewood. I just needed to get things back into perspective without the noise of the city."

Stef finally let her emotions go and began to cry and shake a little in her brother's arms, Ben then wrapped both of his arms around her and she got out, "I was so worried. So, so, so worried."

"I'm sorry," Ben murmured. "It won't happen again. I'm sorry."

"You scared me," Stef said. "You-you-"

Ben started rocking his sister back and forth as he continued to whisper that he was sorry, that he wouldn't do it again, until Stef finally calmed down.

The three of them sat there in silence for awhile - trying to figure everything out. Payton knew that she could talk to Ben on the way home. She knew that what needed to happen was for him to reassure Stef that he wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

It was agreed upon when the fire died down and after Ben and Stef took a little walk to talk things out, that Payton would ride back with him and Ben would meet Stef at the Adams Foster residence after that.

So halfway through the trip, Payton said, "Your mom and I know... about Lilliana Rosemont."

Ben looked from the road to his mama and then back to the road, "H-how?"

"Your dad came and told your mom about it during the trial. We were waiting for you to come tell us." Payton said.

"I- I-" Ben really was at a loss to say.

"Look, I've seen Stef one other time at your birthday party and she looked like a well-put together individual. The Stef that I drove to Yosemite with looked so scared, so lost. She _wants_ to help you."

"She has a wife and five kids to worry about." Ben said.

"Could you cut the shit for about 2.5 seconds?" Payton said. "Do you realize that your sister knows how to balance being a wife, a mother, and a cop. So I think she knows how to balance being a sister too. She came to make sure you were okay. Sure, she provoked you after a panic attack, but son, she _wants_ to help you. She and Lena _want_ to help you. Let them help you. Let them in. They aren't going anywhere, no matter how hard you push them away."

Ben nodded and continued driving, "I get it Mama." He said. "Really I do."

"And I'm sorry you got the backseat when Leo showed up," Payton said placing a motherly hand on his thigh. "You deserved better than that."

"He needed you," Ben tried to point out.

"And you didn't need us?" Payton asked. "Is that why it's so hard for you to let people in? Because you think other people need them more?" She watched as her son's lips rolled together and he moved them back and forth. That's when she knew her answer. "You're worth a hell of a lot more than you give yourself credit for buddy. Believe that."

And for once Ben did.

* * *

**A/N2:** So had to pull one of those college all-nighters last night and by the time I was done writing that paper it was going to bed was pointless, so I hashed the rest of this chapter out. Any mistakes are because of my lack thereof sleep.

The next chapter will involve the rest of the Adams Foster children and will pretty much begin where this chapter leaves off.


	16. The Road To New Beginnings

**A/N: **Finals kicked my ass, but I'm back!

Can't say enough how really super thankful I am for your support through all of this!

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: The Road To New Beginnings**

Ben dropped his mama off, hung out with his moms and siblings for awhile, before making his way back to San Diego to clean up the mess he made upon taking off. He pulled up to the Adams Foster residence and parked behind Emily's car. He took a deep breath. He broke one promise that he made to Emily - he up and left without anybody except his business partners knowing where he was. He knew that he worried five women in his life. His moms, his sister, his sister-in-law, and the one person he never wanted to worry, his girlfriend. The love of his life. The one woman he loved more than anything else in the world, more than he could ever understand. He took a deep breath and stepped out of his jeep and walked up to the house and knocked on the door.

Stef answered and said, "Seriously we gave you a key for a reason. Use it."

Ben chuckled, "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "So, how much trouble am I in with the Adams sisters?"

"You'll hear it from both of them," Stef said. "Lena not so much because she understands, but you'll definitely hear it from Emily."

Ben nodded, "I know." He said. "I kind of figured that one."

The sister-brother duo walked into the kitchen nook where Emily's head was in Lena's lap and the principal was running her fingers through the lawyer's curly hair.

"Hi Ben," Lena said, making Emily sit up, "wow, are you sure you have Asian in you? All that facial hair."

"I'm like a quarter Okinawan and a quarter Japanese, so there's a lot of hair there on the former of the the two." He said. "I have to shave like every day and I haven't since Thursday."

Lena nodded and stood up to hug him, "Well, I'm glad you're home safe." She said. "Don't scare us like that again though."

"I promise," he said, "I won't."

"Stay for dinner," Stef said. "We'll give you two some time alone."

Stef and Lena walked out of the kitchen nook and left a very timid Ben and very vulnerable Emily who was curled into a protective ball.

Ben slowly approached his girlfriend and then she shot up, "Baby," he tried.

"You left," Emily all, but yelled. "You left!" She then yelled looking him straight in the eyes. "You _promised_ me that you would never leave! And then _you left!_" She said stepping closer, taking her the side of her fist and then began hitting Ben's chest, "I trusted you," she said as she was hitting his chest. "I trusted you." She hit harder as he wrapped his arms tightly around his distraught girlfriend, "You promised me you'd never leave," she whimpered. "You promised me."

Emily was crying into Ben's chest and he just held her, he noticed Stef and Lena in the doorway, but he focused solely on his girlfriend in that moment.

"I'm sorry," he whispered when he crying died down, "I'm sorry that I left, but you gotta know that I'll never leave you because I didn't leave you. I just needed some time to process everything and with all due respect to Stef, she was being a little bit of an ass and I had to do it away from everybody. I never meant to make you feel like I left you. That was _not _my intent. I'm _so_ sorry baby." He said running his hand through the curls on his girlfriend's head. "I love you." He murmured for the first time.

Emily popped her head up, "What?"

Stef and Lena now slipped away, they figured the first time the couple said I love you to each other should be in private.

"I love you, Emily Mae Adams." Ben said. "I think I always have and I'm sorry that I left. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you where I was going. I just- I just needed not to be found for a few days. But, I did a lot of thinking while I was gone. About how much I love you and how much I love our family. Even if Stef is an ass sometimes." Emily looked into her boyfriend's eyes and said, "I know I should've text you. I know I should've called, but I was so mad that I wasn't thinking. I love you," he reiterated.

"I love you too," Emily said kissing him. "So much."

The two stood their kissing for awhile, Emily's anger had disappeared upon her boyfriend's admittance of his love for her. Ben pulled back resting his forehead on the lawyer's, "You're so beautiful," he whispered as they both swayed back and forth.

Emily's eyes watered when they head somebody clear their throat, they both looked at the entryway to see both Stef and Lena standing there for again, "Hate to break up the love fest, but pizza is here." Stef said.

"We'll be there in a minute," Ben murmured as he put his eyes back on his girlfriend. Both of them not really wanting to take their eyes off of each other.

* * *

"So we just need you to fill it up to about here," Stef said to Ben a couple of days later. Lena was ovulating and they wanted to get this ball rolling.

"You don't need to be awkward about this, Stef." Ben said squeezing his sister's shoulder. "It's okay."

"I'm sorry, but this just is awkward." Stef said burying her face into her brother's shoulder and Ben wrapped an arm around his sister.

The two had become closer since Ben ran off to Yosemite to figure things out and he there had been more hugging in the brother-sister duo's relationship even that night he came back, they cuddled for two hours just talking, and Ben was finally at peace in his sister's arms.

"It's okay Stef," Ben murmured softly. "I get it. But, I better get going if you two want a baby."

"Right," Stef said unburying her face from her brother's shoulder and taking her wife into her arms, "Everything your going to need is in our bathroom."

"Sounds good," he said. "You get her to relax somehow, yeah?" He said to Lena.

"I'll try," Lena said kissing Stef's cheek as he walked up the stairs. "Relax," the principal whispered into Stef's ear.

"This is so awkward," Stef said. "And so crazy."

"We're going to have a baby," Lena said.

"I love you," Stef said softly back.

"And I love you," Lena whispered before Stef leaned in to kiss her.

They stood there making out for several minutes before Ben awkwardly came downstairs and cleared his throat, "Alright," he said. "It's done."

"Thanks Ben," Lena said leaning into Stef.

"Yeah," he said. "You want me to take the kids so you can do your thing?" He asked awkwardly.

The couple looked at each other, Jude was the only kid in the house currently and he was in his room on his computer playing a video game.

"If you wouldn't mind taking Jude for a little bit," Stef said. "The younger twins are with friends and Brandon is with the band."

"Sure," Ben smiled. He wanted an excuse to hang with the boy, "I'll go get him."

"Let me get you some cash for him," Stef said before Ben put his arm out to stop her.

"Here's the deal, sister." He said, "You're going to go get your wife pregnant and I'm going to take my nephew out for an uncle-nephew day on me."

Lena smiled and mouthed thank you from behind Stef as the cop said, "Okay, thank you."

Ben went up the stairs as Stef looked at Lena and the principal slowly walked towards the cop and said, "A whole summer afternoon alone."

Stef hummed, "A perfect afternoon to get you pregnant," she whispered as she softly kissed her wife.

"Okay," they heard Ben coming downstairs with Jude, "we're headed out."

"Love you," they both called out to Ben and Jude as Stef kissed up and down Lena's neck. When they heard I love you too from both the guys and the door shut behind them, Stef picked Lena up and the curly haired woman wrapped her legs around the police officer's waist and they started their afternoon alone as Stef walked them up the stairs.

* * *

Brandon was with the band when he got a phone call from Callie. They were taking a break and he did miss his twin a lot so he slipped outside to take the call.

"Hey Striker," Brandon said into the phone.

_"Hey B," Callie said. "How are things?"_

"Good, just waiting for the day after tomorrow." Brandon said knowing it was their shared birthday was coming up.

_Callie chuckled, "Yeah, I got your birthday gift," she said. "You didn't have to get me anything."_

"I just miss you," Brandon said.

_"I miss you too," Callie said. "How's the family?"_

"Good," he said. "Mom wishes you would call her more."

_Callie sighed, "I know," she said. "I've been a little busy lately. Adjusting. I miss her, Mama, Dad, and the rest of the family. How's Uncle Ben and Aunt Emily?"_

"They're better," Brandon said remembering how bad it was when Ben took off the week before for five days. "Uncle Ben blew up at Mom and left for awhile and she didn't take too kindly to that."

_"Oh no," Callie said, "I wouldn't either. He's back now though?"_

"Yeah," Brandon said. "Aunt Emily went off on him last night. Moms had to keep us out of the kitchen nook."

_"Aunt Emily?" Callie said, "Getting mad? Are you sure that's in the Adams DNA to be possible?"_

"Right?" Brandon said. "I think I've seen Mama mad like once," he said. "And it was at Mom. I always tried to stay on Mama's good side."

_"Yeah, you and me both," Callie said with a soft voice. "I really miss Moms right now."_

"Call them," he said running a hand through his hair. "I'm sure they'd love it if you did."

_"I already tried," she said. "Neither of them answered. I'll try again later though."_

"Definitely," Brandon said. "I'm moving out on our birthday. Not sure how they feel about that."

_"You need it B," Callie said softly. "We both needed to get out of San Diego."_

"You're right," Brandon said.

"Hey," Lou said sticking her head out, "we need you."

"Alright," Brandon said. "Hey, I gotta go."

_"Alright," Callie said. "I love you twin."_

"I love you too, Striker." Brandon said as they said their goodbyes, Lou stood their with an eyebrow raised, "It was Callie," he said.

"Ah okay," Lou said. "How's the East Coast treating her?"

"Pretty well, I guess," he offered a small smile.

"Good," Lou said, "you ready?"

"Yeah," he said wanting to get started on the writing process. He'd be able to talk to Lou about how he feels later. He didn't want to chance things just yet.

* * *

Ben watched his nephew as they played in the same arcade that he met his dad in when he was four and a half. The boy didn't seem like himself, but as much as he didn't want to admit it, he really did want to be the cool uncle and not push things, but he really couldn't handle it. The boy seemed tense and sad, so Ben wrapped a loose arm around the boys shoulders and asked, "You alright buddy?"

Jude looked up at his uncle and nodded, "I'm fine," he said.

"What's wrong?" Ben asked.

"It's nothing," Jude said, "it's stupid," he amended.

"Hey now, come on," Ben said leading his nephew to the side of the arcade. "What's going on?"

"Connor's over there with a few people from school and I get mad because I haven't seen him since school let out in June."

"Do you wanna go do something else?" Ben asked.

"No," he said. "This is obviously a special place to you."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked.

"I heard you talking to my moms last night about how this particular arcade holds a special place in your heart," Jude said. "And I'm honored that you're sharing it with me."

Ben smiled, this is the place where he met his dad at the tender age of four, he though about that day for a moment.

_Flashback._

"Mommy," a four year old version of Ben said, "am I really going to be able to meet my dad today?"

"That's the plan baby," she said looking in the rearview mirror as they pulled into the parking lot, "He wants to spend the afternoon with you. Is that okay?"

Ben nodded feverishly, "Yes," he said.

"Alright," Kelly said as she parked the car and helped the boy out of his booster seat, "ready?" The boy nodded and he got out of the car.

Frank was waiting for them towards the entrance of the arcade and when he saw Kelly and Ben, he walked towards them, "Hi," he said.

"Hi," Kelly said. "So this is Benjamin," she said gesturing to the boy. "He goes by Ben though."

Frank nodded and crouched down in front of him and said, "Hi Ben." The older man stuck out his hand for the boy to shake.

Ben shook his hand and asked, "So you're my daddy?"

Frank nodded his head, "It looks like it," the older man said.

Ben then stuck his hand for Frank to hold, "Can we go play now?" He asked.

Frank looked at Kelly who was leaving the two alone to bond, they had done the paternity test and it came back positive and when the mother nodded her head Frank said, "Of course buddy. You wanna say goodbye to your mom first?"

Ben let go of Frank's hand momentarily and went to hug and kiss his mom, "Bye Mommy," he said.

"See you in a few hours Benji," she said kissing his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too Mommy," Ben said taking Frank's hand again as the two walked inside the arcade to spend the afternoon together.

_End Flashback._

"My dad took me here when we first met," Ben said. "I wanted to share it with somebody special."

"Not my moms or Aunt Emily?" Jude asked curiously.

"Nah," Ben said. "Do you think your mama and Aunt Emily play arcade games?"

Jude chuckled, "What about my mom?" He asked. "She is your sister."

"We have our own special place together," Ben answered. "Besides, you're going to be in the house longer than Brandon, Jesus, and Mariana, so I figured maybe you and I could do uncle-nephew days a lot more."

"But what happens when the baby comes?" Jude asked.

"Especially then," Ben said. "Your moms will still love you, _unconditionally._ But that baby will take up a lot of their time. And I know what it's like to feel like I've been placed in the backseat. Not that they will put you there, but in those times where you need something and they are preoccupied with the baby, know that I'll always be here for you."

"But what if you're like working or with Aunt Emily," he asked. "I don't want to be in your way."

Ben smiled and wrapped his arm tighter around the boy, "How long were you in foster care before you found your forever family?"

"Six years," he said.

"For six years of your life, you were tossed to and fro like you were nothing, but an extra paycheck a month. And then you found your forever family, it's hard to shake off being a burden, isn't it?" The boy shrugged, "Do you still sometimes feel like your a burden to your moms and siblings?"

Jude nodded, "Yeah, because before they had me, there was a little more room in the house, they had one less growing mouth to feed." He said looking at his hands in his lap. "I feel like the two sets of twins were closer to the moms before I came."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked looking down at the boy.

"It's just-" he paused trying to collect his thoughts, "Before me, it seemed like Brandon and Jesus were closer to our mom and Callie and Mariana to our mama. I just feel like I came in and ruined that because I needed a little more attention because of the demons that I have inside me. Then on top of all this, the whole Connor thing doesn't make it easier, the whole questioning my entire existence that doesn't help."

"I want to get you in touch with my brother," Ben said. "You remember from my birthday party, Leo?"

Jude nodded, he and Leo talked video games all night, "Yeah, I remember him." He answered.

"He was adopted and he felt the same way you do now because he saw me working so hard to just get out of the house because my moms spent a lot of time on him and then eventually my sister Leah. And he questioned his entire existence. He ended up coming out about a year and a half ago, but he struggled with who he was. Having two moms doesn't make coming out easy because you really have to know that you know that that's who you are. Being a teenager sucks sometimes because you're trying to figure out who you are and it feels like the entire world is watching you while you do it."

Jude smiled up at his uncle and said, "I'd really like that. Thank you Uncle Ben," he leaned back into his uncle's embrace.

"You're welcome kid," he said. They sat there for a few moments and then said, "Alright, let's see about them arcade games, right?"

"Yeah," Jude said feeling a little better about everything.

* * *

Stef rolled onto her back before pulling Lena close to her and Lena hummed, "What?" Stef asked.

"Being intimate before and after inseminating obviously with a 30 minute break between the two," Lena answered. "You really know how to take care of a woman."

Stef smiled and kissed Lena's forehead a few times, "I try," she said. "I really do."

"There's no reason for you to be nervous honey," Lena said softly. "You do take good care of me, the kids, and our siblings."

Stef sighed, "I know," she said. "I know. Sometimes I just feel like I should do more."

"You do all that you can and for that we're thankful and blessed." Lena said kissing her wife's cheek.

Stef smiled and pulled Lena as close as she could, "I love you." She murmured.

"I love you too honey," Lena said back.

The two settled into a peaceful silence, limbs tangled with each other, Lena's head on Stef's chest, occasionally sharing lingering kisses together. And another round later, they found themselves back in the cuddle position.

"Can we just stay like this forever?" Stef asked rhetorically.

"I wish, but we should eventually get up and make dinner for the rest of our kids." Lena said with her head on the cop's chest.

"What if we just have Ben pick up a pizza for the kids?" Stef asked. "I don't know, I just wanna be close to you right now."

"Mmm, mushy." Lena mentioned. "I like it when you're mushy."

"You know how protective of you I'm going to be over the next nine months?" Stef asked.

"We don't even know if it stuck," Lena said, trying to be logical.

"Yeah well, I'm going to be extra protective over you," Stef warned. "And it'll probably bug you, but I just-" Stef paused trying to find her words, "I just can't wait to hold our baby in my arms."

"I love that you take such good care of me," Lena said, "really. I do."

"I love you," Stef said.

"I love you too," Lena said kissing Stef's cheek. "Call Ben and tell him to pick up pizza on his way home with Jude. Then tell him to stay for dinner."

Stef reached for her phone on the bedside table, "I have a missed call from Callie." She noticed. "And then a text message."

"What does the text say?" Lena asked.

Stef showed Lena the text message that read:

_**Callie:** Hey Moms, just was calling to say I miss you and thank you for the birthday care package. I really appreciate it. Love you! x x_

"See," Lena said, "I told you the care package would be enough. It's like a little taste of home."

"I guess you're right," Stef said before sending a text back to Callie before texting Ben.

**_Mom (to Callie):_**_ We're glad you like it sweetheart. We miss you. Love you too. x x x_

* * *

Jesus and Mariana were the last of the four siblings to make it into dinner that evening, "Were you together?" Stef asked as they both sat down.

"No," the twins answered. "Just coincidence that we should up on time," they said together.

Stef nodded her head slowly before handing them a plate and they dished up pizza and they were listening as Jude told them about some arcade game as they ate.

"It was really cool though," Jude said finishing, "Even if Uncle Ben can't shoot a moving target to save his life."

Ben smiled and playfully shoved his nephew's shoulder, "Show off," the man playfully muttered.

Emily then came in a few minutes later, "Sorry, I'm late." She said. "Was in court all day today."

She sat in the empty chair between Lena and Ben. When she sat down, Ben leaned over and kissed her hello.

"So you two are good now right?" Jesus asked his uncle and aunt.

Ben smiled a dopey grin while wrapping his arm around his girlfriend and said, "We're more than good."

"We're in the best spot right now," Emily said.

"Yeah," Stef said. "In front of your dinner. Eat."

Lena playfully shoved Stef's shoulder, "Stef," she softly chastised.

"None of these kids want to see a couple in the honeymoon stage of their love," Stef said.

"What do you mean? Callie and I had it the worst when you and Mama got together. Uncle Ben and Aunt Emily are tame compared to you two," Brandon said wiping grease off his face and gesturing between the moms.

"We weren't bad," Stef argued, "and you two were five."

"We still knew what love looked like," he said. "Callie and I didn't complain, but we just could've lived without you two going at it on the couch most nights. But you weren't sad anymore and that's what Callie and I wanted. For you to be happy."

Stef squeezed his shoulder and smiled at her oldest son, "Thanks B," she said. "That was really sweet."

"I remember the day you asked us how we felt about Lena," he said with a smile. "You asked us if it was okay if she hung around a lot more."

Stef smiled, "And Callie asked," she began as both she and Brandon said at the same time, _"A lot more than she already has?"_

Brandon looked over at his mama and said with a smile, "We loved you from the start because you loved us from the start. Callie and I were talking the other day about that time period and she said something pretty profound, she said, _'the thing about Mama is that she chose to love Mom and she chose to love us. She could've very well just said screw it, I don't want to date a newly-outed lesbian who has two kids, but she chose to love us anyway. And that's the main reason why we're blessed with a great mama.'_ And she's right," he finished.

Lena got up from her chair and went around to hug her oldest son, "I love you baby." She said.

"I love you too," he said back as she kissed his cheek.

A few minutes of silence filled the kitchen with everybody eating then something dawned on Stef, "Wait, how often do you and Callie talk?" She asked.

"Every day," he answered.

"Phone calls? FaceTime?" She prodded.

"We FaceTime in the morning, text throughout the day, sometimes, like today, she'll call me during the afternoon sometimes, and call at night, why?"

"That's more than _I_ get to talk to her," Stef said.

"Well, I am her twin, the only person who understands her better than herself, sooo..."

The entire table except Stef chuckled at his comment, "And I spent over 14 hours in labor with the two of you," she threw back.

"Look this is something you should probably take up with her," he said wrapping an arm around his mom, "She does miss you though."

Stef smiled while making a mental note to actually call Callie the next day.

* * *

A couple of days later, Brandon, Stef, Lena, and Mike were moving the now 18 year old into his new apartment with the band.

"This isn't a bad setup," Stef mentioned as she and Mike moved the last of the boxes in and Lena helped Brandon open them because Stef didn't want her lifting anything heavy.

"Yeah," Lou said walking into the apartment with Brandon, "My uncle owns the building."

Stef nodded, "That's great. Thanks for uh getting it so relatively cheap."

"Definitely, you're welcome Stef." Lou said.

"Promise to take care of my baby for me?" Stef asked Lou.

Lou and Brandon made eye contact and smiled, the day before they both were honest with each other about their feelings and while they were going to take it slow for the sake of the band, they both agreed to give a try and they still had a lot to figure out before shouting it from the rooftops sort of speak.

"Will do," Lou said as Stef pulled her into a side hug. "We should be home every other weekend at first and definitely for all the holidays."

"I can deal with that," Stef said.

"I'm glad because once we get up and off the ground here with the band, it'll probably only be on the holidays." Lou said in a joking-like manner.

Stef playfully glared at the girl and then said, "Well B, I'm glad you're all set up here."

"I'll leave the four of you alone to say goodbye," Lou said stepping into her bedroom.

The three parents stood and Mike was the first to speak, "Well happy birthday kiddo."

"Yeah," Lena added, "Happy birthday baby."

"Thanks," Brandon said as he looked at his mom with a small smile, "At least do I get kiddo points for not putting a country between us?"

Stef smiled, kiddo points were what she and Mike did when they were younger, it meant at a certain point they could redeem the kiddo points for a little extra post-bedtime snuggle session with usually just Stef, but sometimes Mike and sometimes the both of them.

"Of course birthday boy," Stef said kissing his cheek. "You get all the kiddo points in the world."

"Yes," Brandon said making a fist with his hand and slightly pulling his arm back. The three parents chuckled and Lena was the first to hug him, followed by Mike, and then when it got to Stef, Brandon noticed the tears in her eyes, "I love you Mom. It's just a trip up and down the 5."

"I know baby," Stef said hugging him again, "I love you. Please actually call me more than Callie currently does."

"I can't make any promises, but I'll try." He said.

"That's all I ask," she said kissing his cheek again. "If you need anything, you call us, understand?"

"Yes Mom," he said. "I understand."

"I love you my baby." She said.

"I love you too," he said as Stef grabbed Lena's hand and left with her and Mike, leaving Brandon to get things set up.

"You're pretty lucky Foster," Lou said coming out of her room. "Three parents who love you unconditionally."

"I consider myself a blessed man." Brandon said opening the first box that was actually a care package from his Uncle Ben that he knew that's why the man was so adamant of slipping away from his mom. In it was extra toothpaste and shampoo, granola bars, Top Ramon, things you need for a cold, a gift card to Ben's favorite restaurant, his moms' numbers in case he needed somebody close by, and a Dodgers shirt. "Oh man, my mom's gonna kill him."

"Woah dude," Lou said. "Dodgers really?"

"My uncle put this care package together for me," he said. "Everything he ever needed his first year out of the house. He's a Dodgers fan."

Lou chuckled, "Ben right?" She wanted to clarify.

Brandon nodded as he picked up the note that his uncle had left him:

_"Hey Neph, Just wanted to give you a care package. All the stuff that my moms sent me to college with when I was 15... note especially the Dodgers shirt. Where it to Thanksgiving dinner at your moms and I will pay you $50.00 in cash. Also, my moms would like you to know that since you're in LA now that they'd be honored to be there for you. Good luck B! I know you'll go far. -Uncle Ben_

"He's the best uncle in the world." Brandon said with a small smile.

* * *

**A/N2:** So yeah... this feels really rough to me. Hopefully the next chapter will be smoother.

Merry Christmas and I'll see you soon with another chapter.


	17. The Road To Being Human

**A/N: **I'm really glad that you all are liking Ben and Emily. You'll definitely being seeing more of them solo and then definitely with Stef and Lena too.

This one is kind of focused on Ben and Lena - it's something that's been rolling around in my head for awhile.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen: The Road To Being Human**

Anchor Beach had been back in session for about two weeks when Lena received an unexpected knock on her office door.

"Come in," she said not taking her eyes off of her computer.

"Look I promise Principal Adams Foster," the familiar voice said making Lena smirk, "I won't do it again."

Lena looked to her brother-in-law who was sitting right in front of her now, "Ben," she said softly with a smile.

"Hey," he said. "Sorry to barge in like this."

"It's fine," Lena said. "Aren't you meeting Stef for lunch?"

"Yeah at the precinct," he said looking at his watch, "in a half an hour. But, I needed to talk to you about something."

"What's up?" Lena asked giving the man her full undivided attention.

"Are we okay?" He asked. "Because ever since I took off to clear my head, you've put this weird distance between us and at first I thought it was because you were having second thoughts about me being your donor and then I wracked my brain with everything I've ever did or said to you. And then your _baby_ sister told me to come talk to you."

Lena smiled and then took a deep breath. He was right; every hug he gave her since his return was tense on her part, every time he would ask if she needed help, she would always dismiss him because part of her was mad at this man in front of her, but this man sitting in front of her was coming to her with his hat in his hands just wanting to know what he did wrong. Mark it reason number 1,000 why she loved him. Why he was a good influence for her kids, a great brother to her wife, and equally a good boyfriend for her baby sister.

But then she remembered how distraught her baby sister was when she finally let go of her emotions when he left. Lena remembered her own anger, she may have understood why he left, but she can't bare to watch her baby sister fall apart.

"You left," was how Lena started it. "Do you know what happened when you left?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I watched my baby sister fall apart," Lena said remembering having to all, but take her out of the lawyer's office and get her to cuddle with her that night.

_Flashback._

"Sissy," Lena said sitting in front of her baby sister's desk, "c'mon, let me take you back to our place."

"What about Stef?" Emily asked not looking away from her computer.

"She went to go get Ben," Lena said hoping that would get her to make eye contact with her and it did.

"She knows where he is?" She asked.

"Yeah," Lena said, "one of his business partners told her. She and Payton are on their way up to Yosemite to get him."

"I should've known that he would take off there," the younger sister said.

"So can you come back with me?" Lena asked. "Let me take care of you?"

"Yeah Em," Leroy came to the door, "take a personal day tomorrow. Go home with your big sister. This isn't a request."

"Okay," she said getting ready to leave. "What about your kids?"

"It's only Jude at home right now and I'm sure he's engrossed in a video game." Lena said.

"Alright," Emily said standing up, "are you sure you're okay with me taking a personal day?" She asked her partner.

"I think you need it, Adams." He said. "Let sissy take care of you."

Emily nodded and grabbed her bag and grabbed her keys, "I'll follow you," she said to Lena.

Lena wrapped her arm around Emily and led her out of the office and got the younger woman into her car and as promised Emily followed Lena back to the Adams Foster residence.

When they got in, Lena ushered her sister up to the master bedroom and got her into some more comfortable clothes and into the bed to hold her.

Emily's head was resting on Lena's chest and out of nowhere the younger woman let out a choked sob making Lena immediately ask, "What's wrong honey?"

"Why does everybody have to leave?" She asked, "He promised me he wouldn't leave."

Lena's heart broke, "He didn't leave you," she said.

"Then where the hell is he?" Emily all, but yelled, jumping up.

"Sissy," Lena said getting up to get her sister back down.

"I fell in love with him Lena," she said crying. "I fell head over heals in love with Benjamin Carlson and look what he does to me!" Lena didn't say anything, but anger did rise a little in the pit of her stomach because of her brother-in-law. "Why am I so stupid?" Emily asked softly as she sunk to her knees.

"Hey now," Lena said setting aside her anger to be a big sister, "you know I don't like it when you call yourself that." She added as she went to her sister's side, "You're _not_ stupid. You will _never_ be stupid." She wrapped her sister in her arms protectively, "I love you sissy, but you, as a person, are _not_ stupid. We all make unwise decisions, but you falling head over heals in love with Benjamin Carlson wasn't an unwise decision. I've never seen you more happy. He just needed some time to figure things out."

Emily looked up at her big sister and saw the unspoken anger in her eyes, "But, you're mad at him?" She asked Lena.

"I'd be mad at any person who makes my sister feel like she's stupid." Lena said seriously.

The Adams sisters sat there for a little while, Lena rocking Emily back and forth and after awhile the two got in bed. Emily cuddled into Lena and finally felt safe.

_End Flashback._

"You aren't one to hold a grudge though," Ben said pulling Lena out of her memory of that night. "In fact, if either you or Stef were to have to, I think Stef would more so than you."

"You made her feel stupid for falling in love with you, Ben." Lena said. "Nobody makes my baby sister feel stupid."

"Look Lena," he said, "I'm sorry, okay? I'm making it up to all of you the best I can. I messed up, I promise I won't ever do it again."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Lena shot back.

"What makes you feel like I can't keep this promise Lena?" Ben asked.

"You have a tendency to flight instead of fight." Lena said, "Like for example, when Callie called you a fool, that weekend you made up some excuse to work instead of spend it with us."

"I did work that weekend Lena," he defended. "Sure, I have to get away sometimes, but this is the first time I've ever left town for more than a couple of days."

"You made my sister-"

"Feel stupid," Ben finished, "I know, she told me." He said, "But, _that_ won't happen again. I had no intention on hurting your baby sister. But with all due respect, your wife was being an ass, what was I supposed to do? Take a swing at her? Because that was my next option. I needed an out."

"You could've told us," Lena said standing up to look at the ocean from her office window.

Ben hung his head, ran his hand through his hair, and then straightened his tie, "Have you ever felt the need to just be off the radar for awhile? Just figure things out without everybody trying to figure it out for you, even when you tell them you need to figure things out on your own? Have you ever been there?" Lena nodded, that's what she needed right before her and Stef got together, "Look, I thought out of _everybody_ you would understand. Stef even said you would. That's what I needed. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you where I was going, I'm sorry I took off. I'll be making it up to everybody for awhile, I know, but you gotta understand that I love your sister more than I could _ever_ understand. Why are you so mad at me? Because I made her feel stupid? That _wasn't _my intention, Lena." He said with tears in his eyes.

Lena turned back to him as he continued, "I get it, after your wife and kids, your baby sister will _always _come before me, but you gotta realize something Lena, I didn't mean to hurt her. I'm sorry," he said getting up walking out of the room, leaving Lena in her thoughts.

* * *

When Stef got home that night, she saw three of her kids doing homework and her wife making dinner. She said hi to the younger twins and Jude and kissed the top of their heads and then headed straight for her wife.

Stef placed her hands on the principal's hips and kissed her cheek and whispered into her ear, "Ben told me, I love you."

Lena took a deep breath, "I love you too, I didn't mean to send your brother to you like that." She said.

"Like what?" Stef said. "He was the most confident that I've seen him."

"He was?" Lena asked knowing that when he left her office he was in tears.

"Yeah, he was joking around with Captain and whatnot." She said smiling at the memory. "Making jokes at my expense too."

Lena smiled knowing that made Stef's day, "He hurt Emily," Lena said.

"Unintentionally," Stef said. "I know we want this between our siblings to work, but Ben isn't perfect. He's going to make mistakes. He treats Emily like a goddamn princess, he loves her a lot, we gotta take the pressure off of him." Lena nodded, she realized that they do put on a lot of pressure when it came to Emily and that wasn't fair. "He's gonna have off days," Stef said. "Couples fight love," she whispered soothingly in Lena's ear. "We can't protect Emily from everything like we want to."

"He said something today, that stuck with me," Lena said as she was stirring what was in the pot.

"What was that baby?" Stef asked, still with her hands on Lena's hips, swaying them back and forth.

"He said that you, the kids, and Emily would always come before him, like he didn't mean anything to me."

"How do you know that he felt that way?" Stef said moving her hands up to rub Lena's shoulders.

"I just feel it, he walked out after her said it," she said.

"Maybe you're overthinking it," Stef said as she continued to rub Lena's shoulders. "I'm sure that's not what he meant."

"I mean he's right, you, the kids, and Emily would come before him, but if he ever needed anything, I'd be there for him. Just like I would for you, the kids, or Emily."

"I know baby," Stef said. "I know." She kissed Lena's neck. "Is there anything I could do for you right now?"

"Dinner's ready," Lena said. "If you could go get the kids?"

"Of course, my love," she said kissing her cheek moving to get the kids.

Lena put dinner on the table, but her mind could never leave the thought of her brother-in-law feeling like she didn't love him.

* * *

"The website is receiving a lot of traffic these days," Jonah said to Ben as the man was programming something on his computer.

"Well yeah," Ben said, "that's why we started all this."

Jonah threw a french fry at Ben as the man snickered, "Smartass," Jonah said.

"Better a smartass than a dumbass," Ben shot back as he phone dinged, indicating he had a text message.

Ben picked up his phone and smiled, "Emily?" Jonah asked.

"Yeah," he said. "She just sent me this link to this Batman thing, the woman really gets me."

"So she's nerdy like you are," he said eating his burger, "good to know."

"I'm not nerdy," Ben said as he text Emily back.

"Dude, when we first met you went into a five minute rant about why Batman was better than Superman," Jonah said, "but you're happy?"

"Really happy," Ben said back with a smile. "Best thing that's happened to me since before my dad died."

"I'm glad you're happy man," Jonah said as Ben's phone rang. "I'll get out of here so you can take that."

Ben smiled and then looked down at his phone, why was Lena calling him?

He cleared his throat and answered the phone, "Hey Lena," he said.

_"H-hi Ben," she said __hesitantly, "is this a good time?"_

"Yeah, of course," he said. "What's up?"

_"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm really, really sorry."_

"Lena," he said softly, "you don't have to apologize."

_"But, I do," Lena said. "I know you didn't mean to hurt her."_

Ben took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair, "I need you to know that I'm not like Alex or any other guy who has hurt her."

_"I know that," Lena said. "And I need you to know that if you ever need ME, I'm here for you. You mean the world to me."_

"I never thought you weren't," Ben said softly.

_"But what you said about how Stef, the kids, and Emily will always come before you..."_

"That doesn't mean that I don't realize that you're there for me too," he said. "They were there first, they are your first priority. I know I come after you, the kids, and Emily in Stef's life too. And at first that actually pissed me off because she's my sister and I wanted to come before my own girlfriend in her life, but then I realized something when I was in Yosemite, I realized that it's because I just came into your life like what? Eight, nine months ago? You already had lives, I can't interrupt that. I kinda already did at first, I wasn't going to do it again."

_"You aren't an interruption in our lives, Ben." Lena said. "I hope you know that."_

"I do know that," he murmured. "That's not why I feel this way. Know that," he added the last two words softly.

_"Okay," Lena said. "I am sorry."_

"There's no need to Lena," he said softly. "If a guy, even with his best intentions, were to of made Leah feel that way, I'm sure I'd be the same way. Just know that I'm working to get better."

_"That's all I want to hear," Lena said. "So we good again?"_

"We never weren't bad, so yeah," Ben said. "Do you want me to bring dinner tomorrow?"

_"Could you?" She asked. "Tomorrow is going to be really hectic for both myself and Stef."_

"Sure," he said. "I hear you find out whether or not you're pregnant tomorrow."

_"I do," Lena said with a smile evident on her face. "Thank you again for, well, doing that for us."_

"It was an honor and a pleasure that I don't take lightly." He said. "Well, I better go, I'm still at work and it looks like my business partners are waving me in for something," he said looking at the door where Jonah and Raider were waving him over.

_"Alright honey," she said. "Don't work to hard."_

Ben chuckled, "I'll try." He said before saying goodbye and going into the conference room with his partners and editors.

* * *

"I come bearing food," Emily called in the house the next evening.

"I thought my brother was bringing dinner," Stef said from the kitchen.

"His meeting ran over, so he text me, with specific instructions to get whatever Lena's favorite Chinese food was." Emily said coming into the kitchen where all of her nephews and her youngest niece were sitting and her sisters were standing at the sink.

"His meetings have been running over all week," Stef said. "Is everything going alright at _The Opinionated Buzz_?"

"You know I can't discuss my clients' cases with you Stef," Emily said putting everything on the table, "Confidentiality actually exists for a reason. Hi Brandon," she said hugging her oldest nephew kissing the top of his head. "How are you?"

"Good," he said. "Starving though," he said, "do we have to wait for Uncle Ben to eat."

"I'm right here," his voice came booming from the entryway. "Sorry."

"How was your meeting?" Emily asked as he came behind her and she moved her head to kiss him.

"It was alright, we got a lot accomplished. You're going to need to come in on Monday though." He said going over to Stef doing their handshake and then going over to Lena and giving her a big, long hug.

"Hey kids," he then said to his nephews and niece. "Brandon, it looks like I owe you $50 bucks."

Brandon chuckled, "I know you said on Thanksgiving, but I ran out of clean shirts." He said making Stef then notice her oldest son's shirt.

"I hate you," Stef said to her brother.

"No you don't," everybody said together.

"You're converting my son!" Stef said.

"His mama and brother are actually," he said. "They took me and Lou to a Dodgers game yesterday."

Stef looked at her brother and said, "This isn't over," she said as Ben slipped him a 50 dollar bill from his wallet.

"Who's actually a team this year?" Ben said sticking ear out making Stef flick it when he walked passed her.

"So," Lena said, successfully changing the subject, "we already called Callie so she already knows the news."

"What news?" Jesus asked scooping dinner onto his plate.

Stef and Lena shared a look together, "Well," Stef drew out, "Mama, do you wanna share the news?"

"I'm pregnant," Lena practically sang.

The kids all, but jumped out of their seats to hug Lena, "Careful guys," Stef said protectively as Emily hugged her tight and Ben reached across the table to give her a fist bump.

After Ben and Emily hugged Lena and everything settled down, Jesus bravely said to Ben, making the man spit out the beer that was in front of him, "So baby daddy, how do you feel that you knocked our mama up?"

"Jesus," his moms groaned.

"That's _Uncle _baby daddy to you," Ben said playfully shoving this boy's shoulder.

* * *

A couple of days later, Lena was sitting in her office when he cell phone rang, she was expecting it to be Stef just to check in, but was surprised when her oldest daughter's name popped up on her phone.

"Hey slug-a-bug," Lena said.

_"Hi Mama," her voice soft and tired, "is-is this a bad time to call? I can always call back."_

"No," Lena said leaning back into her chair, "what's up baby?"

_"I just missed your voice," she said. "And I miss you."_

"I miss you too honey," Lena said softly. "I'm surprised you didn't call Mom."

_"I did, but then she text me to say that she was on patrol with my dad and neither one of them could talk at the moment." She said. "So sorry that you're my last hope in some parental love right now."_

"Well I'm just glad you did call me baby," she said. "How's school? How're your classes?"

_"They're good," Callie answered. "I'm actually really enjoying them. They're harder than Anchor Beach though."_

"Yeah?" Lena said, "Any ones you're liking the most?"

_"I'm really liking my philosophy class." Callie answered. "It's really informative and whatnot. Oddly enough, it's worth getting up at 6:50 for."_

"What time is the class?" Lena asked figuring that Callie just needed a loving, familiar voice to talk to.

_"Like 7:30," she chuckled. "So I just got used to my Anchor Beach schedule."_

"Why so early?"

_"I have afternoon offseason conditioning," Callie said. "My English class got canceled today, so that's why I'm able to call you."_

Lena smiled, "I miss you slug-a-bug," she admitted. "I miss my Callie snuggles."

_"I miss my MAMA snuggles," Callie said. "Thanksgiving?"_

"Yeah, definitely. I think we're combining both our family and Uncle Ben's family at his place and you know how comfy his couch is."

_"Yeah," she said. "How is he? Uncle Ben? He and Aunt Emily still okay? B told me about his escape."_

"He's good." She said looking the big family picture at the courthouse on the adoption day. "They're doing good. Better than ever."

_"That's good," Callie said. "I really like them together. Better than any other man that Aunt Emily has dated."_

"You and me both baby," Lena said.

_"I'm also really excited for you and Mom." She said and it was evident there was a huge smile on her face, "How're you feeling?"_

"Don't jinx me," Lena said, "the morning sickness hasn't kicked in yet. But, I'm good. Your mom takes good care of me."

_"That she does," Callie said, "you have her wrapped around your fingers pretty well."_

"Your uncle calls her whipped all the time," Lena said smiling at the sister-brother duo.

_"He's one to talk, look at him and Aunt Emily." Callie joked._

"Yeah," Lena said. "Are you doing alright?"

_"I'm still adjusting if that's what you're asking," Callie said. "I only have classes Monday, Wednesday, Friday."_

"That is an adjustment," Lena said. "What do you do Tuesday and Thursday before conditioning?"

_"I usually study," Callie said. "And sleep."_

"You really do like your sleep, don't you slug-a-bug?"

_"Mhm, yeah." Callie said chuckling._

The two talked for another twenty minutes about anything and everything. Lena knew why she was calling home, she was homesick and Lena wanted to do everything in her power to make her baby feel just a little bit better.

* * *

**A/N2:** Bam. Another chapter done.

I really just wanted a Lena-Callie scene, so that's why it's at the end. And I'm debating about a one shot about the tension Lena put between her and Ben (just because it would've slowed the story down here), we'll see. With getting ready for school to start in a couple of weeks and work, it might happen, but I make no promises.

And Baby Adams Foster is now on its way! Any suggestions on how that should go down? Boy? Girl? You decide!

(Spoiler alert though: There _will be_ a Baby Adams Foster. That episode just broke my flipping heart out.)


	18. The Road To Belonging

**A/N:** I am so sorry, I know it's been forever. Life got in the way and I had some writer's block because I didn't know where to take this story. But, I'm back now and am up for taking suggestions.

I'm keeping a tally of what you want the baby to be. Boy, girl, twins, and names too!

Thank you for your patience!

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: The Road To Belonging**

Stef and Lena were cuddling in bed, it had become the morning norm for them ever since finding out that Lena was pregnant. They'd cuddle first thing in the morning, talk, and Stef would even get to Lena's belly level and talk to the baby. It made Lena smile how invested her wife seemed to be. She knew the police officer was apprehensive of the baby at first, she wasn't blind, but the fact that she took on the fact that in a little less than a year, they'd have a bundle of joy in their arms made the blonde happy as much as it made Lena happy, she knew that it was going to be alright.

Stef's phone rang while she was talking to the baby and occasionally kissing Lena's stomach. The police officer picked up her phone and said, "Callie is FaceTiming us."

_After it connected Stef and Lena saw the biggest smile on their daughter's face, "Hi Moms!" She exclaimed in complete excitement._

"Hi baby," the moms said. "So what's up?" Lena asked subtly gesturing to how happy their daughter was.

_"So remember that paper in English that I really thought I wasn't going to do well on and you helped me over the phone, Mama?" Callie asked._

"I do," Lena said remembering that night, that Stef wouldn't allow Lena to do anything, but sit down. "Did you get it back?"

_"My professor just posted the grade, Mama, I got a perfect score!" Callie said with a huge smile, "Thank you!"_

"Of course love." Lena said. "I was happy to help."

_"I really needed it too because I didn't do so well on my last paper," Callie said. "So I'm really grateful for your help Mama."_

"Anytime you need help you come to me alright?" Lena said.

_"Definitely." Callie said, "How are you guys? How's my little brother or sister doing?" _

"We're doing fine love," Stef answered.

"And your little brother or sister is very healthy according to the doctor." Lena added.

_"I'm happy," Callie said. "I miss you all. Even the chaos of an Adams Foster family meal."_

"We miss you too baby," Stef said. "So much, but you'll be home in a month and a half. And if you keep doing these morning FaceTime calls it'll make it a little easier for us."

_Callie blushed, "I have been FaceTiming you both a lot recently haven't I? I'm sorry."_

"No don't apologize," Lena said. "We enjoy it. We _miss_ you."

_"Thanksgiving can't come soon enough," Callie said._

"Agreed!" Both moms said. "How are you love?" Lena asked.

_"I'm good," Callie said. "I really enjoy college, but I miss you guys. How's everybody else?"_

"Good, good." The couple said. "Your siblings are good," Stef said.

_"And Aunt Emily and Uncle Ben?" Callie asked. "Have they gotten married and had five children yet?" She joked._

"Only in your Grandma Dana and Grandpa Stuart's dreams." Lena said.

_"Aw man," Callie said, "they're like perfect."_

"We agree baby," Stef said, "but your Uncle Ben needs more time, so does your Aunt Emily even if she doesn't want to admit it."

_"I know," Callie said. "So there's something I need to talk to you two about."_

"What's up love?" Stef asked.

_"I got a text from Jude the other day," she said._

"Yeah?" Stef said.

_"I think it wasn't meant for me because it said something like he doesn't know where he belongs in the family." Callie said._

Stef and Lena shared a look, "Did he say anything else?" She asked.

_"When I text him back, he didn't respond." Callie said. "I - I just wanted to let you know."_

"Thank you baby," Lena said.

"We really appreciate it." Stef added.

_"I just want him to feel belonged." Callie said with a small shrug. Then looked up and said, "Hey I gotta go. The roommate and I are going to hang out with the rest of the team. Bond a little, it was our coach's idea."_

"Alright love," Stef said, "be safe! Love you!"

"Love you!" Lena added.

_"Love you both so so much!" Callie said before hanging up._

Stef and Lena looked at each other again and Lena said, "We need to talk to him."

Stef nodded, "But, he's hanging out with Ben and Leo today." She said.

"Before he goes and tell your brother to bring his brother to dinner tonight." Lena said.

"Will do," Stef said leaning in to give Lena a long kiss.

* * *

Stef and Lena walked hand-in-hand into Jude's room, when Brandon moved out, Jesus moved into his old room. Jude was tying his shoes when they walked in.

"Hey love," Lena said. "May we talk to you?"

Jude looked up and nodded, "You looking forward to your day with your uncle and Leo?" Stef asked. He nodded again. "Where'd you get those shoes?" She asked noticing she's never seen them before.

"Uncle Ben and Aunt Emily got them for me because my other ones were too small." He answered.

Stef nodded, making a mental note to slap her brother upside his head when she saw him next, "So there's something else we need to talk to you about."

"Okay," Jude said.

"Callie told us that she got an interesting text message from you the other day." Stef said tilting her head. "About you feeling like you didn't belong in the family."

"Oh," Jude said looking down at his shoes. "That."

"What's going on?" Lena said brushing hair out of his face.

Jude sighed, "I feel like ever since I've gotten here, all I've done is be a burden." He said. "There was more room here before I got here, more hot water."

"There's now one less kid then before you got here buddy," Stef said.

"I feel like you had a really good relationship with Brandon and Jesus," he said gesturing to Stef, "and you had a really good relationship with Callie and Mariana," he said gesturing to Lena. "And then I come in and need a little more love and attention because of my demons. I'm trying to find where I belong, but I can't find it."

"Hey," Stef said getting his attention, "we love you. And yes, sure, it's hard to find your place in a family where the other kids have some sort of bond. But the big and little twins already had that bond before the little twins came along."

"But, I've been monopolizing a lot of your time since I've gotten here." Jude tried to argue.

"You needed it," Lena said.

"I just don't want the other kids to feel like how Uncle Ben felt with both his siblings." Jude said. "And you guys are going to have a baby," Jude said placing his hand on his mama's stomach. "What if I need you two and you're too busy with the baby?"

"We'll always have time for you Jude," Lena said kissing his forehead. "Always."

"Mama's right bud." Stef said pulling him into her. "You know the big twins felt a little like you did when the little twins first got here."

"They did?" Jude asked.

"They did," Stef said. "We were so busy trying to get them settled, that we subconsciously put them in the back seat."

"How'd you fix it?" Jude asked.

"One Sunday evening, Mike came to me and told me that the big twins had asked if they could live with him permanently." Stef said, "and when I asked why, it was because they didn't feel loved and appreciated. So when you came along, we made sure to have our times with them too. We learned how to balance everything."

"So when the baby comes along, we'll balance everything again," Lena assured.

"We're still your moms, okay?" Stef said making Jude nod. "Alright, finish getting ready. Your uncle and Leo should be here soon."

* * *

Ben opened the door of the Adams Foster residence twenty minutes later with his brother in tow, "You just walk right into their house?" Leo asked surprised.

"I'm tired of hearing, _'we gave you a key for a reason bro.'_" Ben said doing a horrible Stef impression, "So yeah, I walk right into their house." He said. "Yo!" He then yelled.

"Hey Ben," Lena said coming in from the kitchen. "Hi Leo."

"Hi Mrs. Adams Foster," Leo said earning a weird look from his brother. "What?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to anybody calling her that." Ben said.

"You can call me Lena," she said as Stef walked in. "And her Stef."

"We went over that when she came and picked up my mama to find this one," Leo said gesturing to his big brother.

Stef then flicked Ben's ear, "Ow," the man yelped. "What the hell was that for? Hello to you too."

"You bought my son new shoes?" Stef said.

"Yeah, he said his shoes were too small," Ben said. "And for the record, it was Emily's idea." He added throwing his girlfriend under the bus not realizing that she was in the kitchen.

"Wow." He heard, "Throw me under the bus why don't you?" The woman came behind Lena glaring at her boyfriend.

"It's true, okay?" Ben said. "She gets mad when I buy the kid lunch." He added pointing at the blonde.

"Okay, okay," Lena said, putting her arm around her sister. "Thank you Ben." Lena said, "Thank you Emily. I'm sure our son has thanked you for them?"

"Yes, he has," the young couple said as the boy came down the stairs.

"Hey Jude," Leo said.

Ben chuckled at The Beatles reference, "The Beatles." He said lowly.

"I know," Lena said, "I've already made that comment."

"It's a band that old people listen to," both Jude and Leo said at the same time followed by a high five.

"For the record, I was born in 1991," Ben said. "And you were born in '97, so hush." He said to Leo.

"1991?" Stef groaned, "Ugh I feel so old."

"Well you are in between our moms," Ben pointed out.

Leo chuckled, "Didn't you point out that Mom is younger than Stef by like a year?" He said earning a glare from the blonde woman.

"Okay on that note, the guys are out of here." Ben said before his big sister could strangle his little brother.

"Have fun," Lena said. "And both you come back for dinner," she added to Ben and Leo.

"Sounds good," Ben and Leo said.

"Love you," Stef and Lena said to Jude kissing the boy's cheek.

"Love you too." Jude said.

"Bye baby," Emily whispered to Ben, "I love you."

"I love you too," Ben said leaning into kiss his girlfriend goodbye.

Stef made a fake gagging sound, "Get a room." She then said earning a playfully slap on the bicep from Lena.

"Be nice." She said to her wife.

The boys left and then the women went back into the kitchen and Emily sunk down into a stool, Stef noticing her baby sister's change in demeanor asked, "What's wrong honey?"

"I saw Alex the other day," she said sounding distant.

"What?" Stef's defenses went up, "Where?"

"The bank," she said. "I thought I was seeing things at first."

"Why didn't you say anything to us?" Lena asked sitting next to her baby sister.

"Because I didn't want this," she said mentioning her sisters freaking out.

"Sorry," the couple murmured softly.

"Did he see you?" Stef asked.

"Not that I know of," she said curling into her sister.

"Uh, let's go to the couch, where Lena can be more comfortable," Stef offered. She knew that she was probably annoying her wife with how protective she was being, but the principal was carrying their baby. She couldn't help it.

"Is she always going to be like this now?" Emily asked as Lena wrapped an arm around the lawyer and followed Stef to the couch.

"Probably, but it's one of the things I love about her." Lena said. "How she'd do anything to protect her family."

"Hey," Stef said sitting on the couch, "I'm right here, I can hear you."

Lena kissed her wife before sitting practically in her lap and Emily sat on the other side of Stef curling into her, it was one of her safe places.

They sat there for awhile both the Adams sisters cuddled into Stef this was one of the police officer's favorite positions to be in.

* * *

Ben actually dropped the two boys off at the arcade down the street from his office. What the day was really about was Jude to ask Leo some questions about his sexuality to figure out if he really had feelings for his friend Connor or if he was just questioning it.

"So uh how'd you know you were gay?" Jude asked as they played a car racing video game.

"I just kind of knew," Leo said, "and I won't lie when I watched the way that my moms looked at each other and compared it to my current boyfriend, Danny."

"How?" Jude asked curiously.

"Like when I saw my moms holding hands, I tried to imagine doing that with a girl, it didn't feel right. Then I tried imagine doing that with Danny, who was already out and proud, and it felt right. I saw my moms cuddled on the couch watching sports together, my mom doesn't know anything about sports, but she sat and watched it with my mama anyway. I tried to imagine watching a chick flick with a girl whether or not I wanted to do it, couldn't imagine it. Then I tried to imagine watching major league soccer with Danny whether or not I wanted to or comprehended it, I could imagine. Or even I watched them kiss each other and I tried remembering kissing girls and I didn't like it. But when Danny kissed me for the first time, there was nothing like it to compare it to."

"So you people watched your moms?" Jude concluded.

"I guess you can say that, haven't you done that with Stef and Lena?" Leo asked.

"Not really, but I actually can't imagine being with a girl, now that I think about it." Jude said.

"Well then, I think you have your answer." Leo said. "And you're safe in your home. You belong too." Jude gave him a confused side eyed look, "Ben told me that you're feeling a little out of place in your own home."

Jude nodded, "Yeah, just a little." He said.

"Stef and Lena wouldn't have adopted you if they didn't think for a moment you wouldn't belong," Leo said. "Your siblings wouldn't have agreed to let you stay if that were the case too. They all love you."

"I know they do." Jude said. "I just feel like a burden."

"Trust me, I felt that way too." Leo said.

"Really? Even when your moms put my Uncle Ben in the back seat?" Jude asked.

"That's why I felt like a burden." Leo said. "The way that they would do stuff with me when it was obvious that he wanted their attention. I felt like he had this bond with the both of them, especially our mama, that I ruined when I got there."

"Yeah that's how I feel right now." Jude said. "Does it ever go away?"

"Not really, but I've learned how to live with it." Leo said as they finished their game.

* * *

That night at dinner, Leo felt a little overwhelmed with the chaos that is an Adams Foster family meal. Ben saw this and chuckled, he remembered that first dinner when he met them all, he knew what his brother was feeling.

"Here," Ben said to Leo. "Take some tabasco put it on your chicken and breathe."

Stef and Lena looked up from their plates realizing that the West Point bound boy was feeling a little overwhelmed, "Do you need anything else honey?" Lena asked.

"No, no." The boy said. "I'm fine."

"It's always chaotic," Emily said to her boyfriend's brother, "speak up and speak up loudly if you need something."

Silence filled the kitchen when Stef then said, "Oh hey little brother, did you happen to catch the Padre-Dodger score today?"

Both Ben and Leo groaned and said, "It was only luck."

"Oookay," Stef said the Wright-Carlson brothers, "Calm down."

"We're both diehard Dodger fans Stef," Ben said. "Do you really have to pour salt on open wounds?"

"We do," Jesus said making Ben throw a green bean at his nephew.

"Hey, no throwing food," Lena scolded Ben and Jesus.

"Sorry Mama," Jesus said.

"Yeah, sorry Lena." Ben said.

"Both the Adams sisters have you wrapped around their fingers," Leo said to his brother.

"Not really." Ben said earning a glare from every single person at the table, he took a sip of his beer, "What?" He said.

"You're full of crap you know that?" Stef said.

"Majorly." Mariana added. "What was it? Last weekend when Emily wanted something and Mama wanted the same thing, what was it some kind of ice cream? You went to the store and bought it for them both and then wouldn't let Mom reimburse you for it."

"It was a buy one get one free thing" Ben defended.

"Uh huh," Mariana said disbelievingly. "Suuure."

"Okay so maybe I am whipped for both of the Adams sisters, but Stef isn't any better." Ben said. "All they have to do is batt their big brown eyes and she caves immediately."

"Yeah that is true," Mariana said earning a glare from Stef. "What? It is."

"I just know that when Emily is happy, Lena's happy, and when Lena's happy, I for sure am happy." Stef said. "I don't know what Ben's thing is."

"He can't stand the pressure of women he cares about in need," Leo said.

"Yeah, that is true." Ben admitted. "Moms batt their eyes a lot on me too."

"Yeah, I've learned to just say no." Leo said.

"Yeah, but I get nicer things on my birthday and Christmas for saying yes." Ben said.

"We all know I'm still their favorite anyway." Leo said. "Like Jude is Stef and Lena's."

"We don't play favorites," Stef said.

"Yeah you do," the twins said. "We were your favorites before he came along. Made Brandon and Callie really jealous."

"Really?" Lena said. "We really try not to play favorites."

"We know you love us," Jesus said. "That's all that matters to us."

Mariana nodded, "Yeah," she said. Silence filled the kitchen as they continued eating dinner, "Hey Uncle Ben?" Mariana then asked.

"Yeah?" He said placing his hand on Emily's thigh.

"How much do you know about coding?" The girl asked.

Leo chuckled as Ben answered, "Pretty much everything, why?"

"I got asked to be on the STEM team at school and I was wondering if you could help me out a little?" She asked.

"Of course!" He said with a huge smile. "Show me what you got after dinner."

Mariana smiled, "Cool." She said.

* * *

**A/N2:** I know that was probably boring and I'm sorry for that, it was kind of a filler chapter anyway. What do you want to see? And remember to keep voting for gender(s) and names(s) (if you want them to have a third set of twins) for Baby Adams Foster!


	19. The Road To A First Time

**A/N: **Things are leaning towards a Baby Adams Foster boy! Keep the votes coming! There'll be a tiny bit of a time jump in a couple of chapters to the ultrasound of the gender of the baby.

This chapter is leading up to Ben and Emily's first time together, but is implied and not shown. Mentions of Alex and Lilliana are in this chapter, but go into no detail.

Thank you for you continued support.

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: The Road To A First Time**

"Lena please just sit down, let me get it." Stef said.

"Is this really how you're going to be for the entire pregnancy?" Lena asked. "Because I'm carrying our child, I'm not sick."

"I just-" Stef said, "It makes me feel better."

Ben who was sitting at their kitchen table working on his laptop was chuckling, "She just wants a cup of tea Stef, it's not like she's running a marathon."

"Why exactly are you over here on a Wednesday night?" Stef changed the subject glaring at her brother.

"You _told_ me to come over, remember?" He said. "I mean I know you're getting up there and everything, but I didn't think you were losing your memory that quickly."

Stef glared at her brother, "Not necessary." She said.

Lena's phone ringing made the kitchen go silent, "Can I answer my phone without you freaking out or is that like running a marathon?" Lena asked Stef sarcastically with a smirk on her face making Ben chuckle again.

"Sassy," Stef said making her tea. "So much sass."

Lena looked down to see who was calling and was surprised it was Callie because it was ten o'clock on the East Coast and she figured the girl would be sleeping by now. She answered her phone and said, "Hey slug-a-bug, what's up?"

_"M-mama?" Callie got out trying to hide the fact that she was crying._

"Yes baby?" Lena said, "What's wrong?"

That made Stef stop what she was doing and walk to her wife and sit next to her. Hearing her wife ask their daughter what was wrong made her heart sink to her stomach.

_"I - I had a bad day." Callie said. "And I - I just needed to hear your voice to remind me that I made the right decision by taking the scholarship."_

"Honey," Lena said, "you did. You needed a new start out of San Diego. What happened?"

_"I woke up late because I haven't been sleeping well, so by the time I got to my midterm this morning I was so frazzled that I'm not sure if I did well on it." She said. "Then I got back a failed English test today. Then offseason conditioning was just really hard today. Then I just tried to go back to my dorm after studying and doing homework in the library and all I wanted to do was go to bed and start again tomorrow, like you always tell us to do when we have bad days, and my roommate is in their with some guy. And I just want to sleep. I - I just want to sleep."_

"Where are you now, baby?" Lena asked as Stef had gotten up to finish making the woman's tea for her.

_"Hiding in the laundry room," she said. "I figured I should do laundry and it's the only place where nobody is at right now."_

Lena took a deep breath, "I love you slug-a-bug." She started off hoping that'd make the girl feel better.

"Yeah, I do too," Stef called from the background and Lena looked over and saw Ben coding something and nodding his head in agreement.

"And so does your mom and Uncle Ben." Lena added.

_"Mom and Uncle Ben are there?" Callie asked._

"They are," Lena said. "Can you FaceTime right now? So we can see you?"

_"I can." Callie said as Lena switched it to FaceTime, "Hi," she said when it reconnected._

"Oh baby," Lena said as she looked at the tears streaming down her oldest daughter's face. She looked tired and worn out from a bad day.

Stef came and put a mug of tea in front of Lena and then stood behind her wife and saw her daughter's worn out face, "Oh baby girl," Stef murmured.

_"Where's-where's Uncle Ben?" She asked not seeing him as he was sitting across from Lena on his computer._

Lena flipped the camera around as the man looked up from his laptop, "Hey kiddo." Ben said. "Bad day?"

_"Yeah," she said. "Thanks for your care package by the way. It just got here today. It's just been a busy, busy, bad day."_

"No problem, kiddo." Ben said a soft smile. "I understand. I figured a little taste of home would make a good or bad day better."

Lena flipped the camera back around so that Callie could see her moms again, "How can we help?" Stef asked feeling completely helpless from all the way across the country.

_"There's not much you can do." Callie said. "Just - just keep talking to me?"_

"Of course," Lena said. "You'll be home in a couple of weeks, I can't wait for my Callie snuggles."

_The girl smiled and said, "I can't wait to be back in your arms Mama. Yours too, Mom."_

"Did you get the Itinerary?" Stef asked. "Your dad should've sent it last night."

_"I did," Callie said. "He also put like $200 dollars in my bank account too."_

Stef rolled her eyes, "Of course he did." She said. "That's exactly what your dad would do."

_"I'm sorry," Callie said._

"No, it's fine baby girl." Stef said. "Your dad and I just aren't seeing eye-to-eye right now."

_Callie chuckled, "Do you and Dad ever see eye-to-eye?" She asked._

The three adults chuckled, "Sometimes we do," Stef said. "You starting to feel better?"

_"A little," Callie said. "I miss you all."_

"We miss you too," Lena said. "You think you could convince your mom to actually let me do something when you're here?"

_Callie heard Ben chuckle in the background, "Oh no, is it bad?" She asked._

"It's not bad." Stef said. "I just want to take care of your mama. Like I promised Grandpa Stuart, Grandma Dana, and your Aunt Emily. I just get a little protective."

_"A little?" Callie rose an eyebrow. "Mom, I love you, but you don't know a little."_

"What do you mean?" Stef asked her daughter.

_"You protect the things you love," Callie said. "You protect them with full force. Which was nice in elementary and middle school when I was bullied, but I can tell that Mama is a little restless."_

"And that's an understatement," Lena said looking up at her wife. "I love you, I do."

Stef leaned down to kiss her wife which caused their brother and daughter to make gagging noises, "Get a room." Ben said making the women laugh.

_"I agree, just don't take me with you." Callie joked with her uncle._

Stef and Lena smiled at each other knowing that they just made their daughter feel better and the four of them talked for another twenty minutes before Callie said she as going to go see if she could sleep in her room and they said their good nights with the moms promising to check in with her tomorrow.

* * *

Emily needed both of her sisters, it was rare to have a bad day anymore. Not ever since being with Ben, but it was one of those days where she needed Stef and Lena. Particularly because she was in an argument about how slow their relationship was going with Ben.

She walked into the Adams Foster home to see her sisters cuddled on the couch, "Hey sissy," Lena said. "What's wrong?"

"I need you two," she said almost on the edge of crying.

The couple parted so that the woman could cuddle between them, "What's wrong honey?" Stef asked kissing her baby sister's forehead.

"Your brother." Was all she could get out.

"What happened?" Stef asked stepping into a protective mode that was reserved for Emily only.

"We just are arguing about how slow our relationship is going." The lawyer said.

"What does that mean?" Lena asked.

Emily sighed, not really knowing how to tell her sisters that, they've been together a little over six months, and they haven't been intimate and she wanted to be.

"You can tell us anything," Lena said kissing her cheek.

Emily let out a breath and said, "It's awkward."

"You can tell us," Lena said.

"He's not ready to have sex yet," Emily said. "And I can understand why, but I feel like we're standing still in our relationship and I want to move forward." Stef and Lena shared a look over the young woman's head and had a silent conversation with their eyes that maybe lasted too long because Emily then said, "See! I told you that it was awkward."

The younger woman tried to get up and then Stef said, "Wait honey, sit back down please, we're sorry. It just took us by surprise that's all."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

The couple chuckled, "We just thought you've done that already." Lena said softly.

"Really?" Emily asked. "Oh," she then said, "right, I don't wait very well. We've been taking it at his pace."

"You seems really tense," Stef said rubbing the woman's neck.

"Leroy was joking about how I needed to get laid," Emily started, "and then I thought back about how long it's been since I have and I realize that it's been like nine months. And while, I shouldn't be complaining, I find myself needing Ben in a way that he's not ready for."

Several moments of silence had washed over the three of them before Stef said, "Nine months?" Emily nodded, "Damn. I'm sorry, but you really do need to get laid."

"Stef," Lena softly chastised.

"I'm sorry love." Stef said. "But, I'm not sure I could survive nine months without getting laid."

"Right because recently you haven't been able to last nine days," Lena said with a smirk.

"You haven't been complaining." Stef said.

"Who could with you-"

"Okay!" Emily interrupted the couple, "I don't need to know about your guys' sex life."

"Sorry love," Stef said. "What exactly are you two arguing about?"

"Just that we agreed to go slow, but not this slow." Emily said.

"Well honey, I'm sure he's never willingly been that way." Lena said. "You need to let it be in his timing."

"I know," she said putting her head on Stef's chest. They sat in silence for awhile and then Emily said, "Where are the little twins and Jude?"

"Upstairs doing homework I hope," Lena said holding her sister.

A few more minutes of silence went by before Emily asked, "Am I an ass for wanting him to be ready?"

"No," the couple murmured. "You're just a human being that wants to be intimate with the love of your life," Lena said, "That doesn't make you an ass."

"And even if you were an ass, which you aren't, even asses have needs." Stef said earning glares from her wife. "What? It's true."

"Thank you Stefy." Emily, as the only person who was allowed to call her that, said. "I appreciate your blunt words of wisdom."

"You're welcome Emmy." Stef, as the only person who was allowed to call her that, said.

* * *

Ben was sitting at his computer at work when Stef walked in, "Please tell me you have leftovers from a couple of nights ago." Ben said not taking his eyes off of the iMac in front of him.

"I do because you and I are the only ones who enjoyed it." Stef said, "Lena's morning sickness has kicked in big time over the last few days, we used to start the day cuddling and talking, now it's more of her throwing up in the bathroom and me sitting there keeping her hair out of the way and rubbing her back."

"You're a good wife, Stef." Ben said sincerely, opening the tupperware of Chicken Alfredo with hot sauce.

"I try to be," Stef said. "Sooo uh speaking of being a good significant other, Emily stopped by the house last night."

Ben tried to hide his wide-eyed expression, "Yeah?" He said scooping food into his mouth.

"She told us that you two are taking it like turtle slow." Stef said. "You haven't tapped that yet?"

Ben spit out the food his was eating, "Stef," he tried.

"Look, I know I shouldn't be endorsing this, but bro, you need to get on that." Stef said.

"It's not that simple." Ben said getting up to get them both a coke. "I'm not sure you would understand."

"Then help me understand because my little sister..." Stef tried.

"So, your little sister really is always going to come first?" Ben said handing her the soda can.

"It's not that I love you any less, it's just-" The cop tried.

"She's been in your life longer, I get it." The CEO finished. "So she comes crying to you two after storming out of my house last night?"

"She was upset and needed us, you know she actually lives up to the promise that if she needs anything from us, she'll come and get it." Stef said.

"So now I'm a horrible boyfriend and a horrible brother? Got it." Ben said.

"Ben, that's not what I'm talking about, I just want to know what's going through that head of yours." Stef said.

"You and Lena, all you really care about is how I treat Emily, if I'm this perfect human being for her. I get it, she was hurt in a way she never should have been before, but when the two of you think of our relationship, do you both ever think about me in it? How I'm feeling? What I get out of it? Or is Emily always going to the forefront? A couple of months ago, when I ran off, Lena almost all, but went off on me because I unintentionally hurt her."

"Ben," Stef tried.

"Ever since the beginning it's always, _'don't hurt her'_ or _'I'm not afraid to hurt you if you hurt her'_ it's never been about me and the fact that I'm scared. Or the fact that I love your wife's sister enough to make us being intimate worth it for the both of us."

"Ben honey," Stef tried again.

"I'm tired of trying to be this perfect human being in your and Lena's eyes because of Emily's past. Did either one of you take a step back a consider that maybe I'm not ready because I'm still working through what Lilliana did to me in therapy?" He asked. He then jumped up and looked out his window. "When I finally got the chance to meet you, after years of just hearing about you, I finally thought I could have an older sister at my side through everything. And then I started dating your wife's sister and I lost that piece of you being at my side." He turned back around to look at Stef, "What can I do to get my big sister back on my side through everything?"

The police officer sat there not knowing what to say or do.

* * *

When Stef and Lena slipped into bed that night, the principal knew something was wrong with her police officer of a wife because she and her brother barely made eye contact that night for the weekly Ben and Emily spends the weekend with the Adams Foster's, "What's wrong honey?" Lena asked, putting her head on Stef's chest.

"Hm? Oh, sorry." She said kissing her wife's forehead three times, "Just a lot on my mind, that's all."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lena asked.

Stef cleared her throat and said, "I think I made Ben mad at me."

"What? How?" Lena asked.

"You know we're putting a lot of pressure on him when it comes to Emily?" Stef asked.

"I knew we were, but is it really as bad as we make it sound?" Lena asked.

"Worse." Stef said. "And to make it even more worse, he's mad that I'll always side with Emily over him because of how I protected her after Alex."

"Honey, you're too hard on yourself." Lena said kissing the bottom of her neck.

Stef sighed and let out a breath, using her free hand to roughly rub her face, "He asked me today what he could do to get his big sister back on his side through everything. And I feel like an ass for always putting Emily before him. I never knew that he was scared to be intimate with her, I mean I kinda figured, but not in the way that he is."

"Honey," Lena tried.

"I knew I'd suck at this sister thing," Stef said.

"Hey," Lena said quickly straddling her wife so that she could get a point across to her, "you do _not_ suck at being a sister. Is it fair to your brother that you always put my sister first? No, not necessarily. But, I don't think you understand how much it means to me that you would even consider protecting my sister. I'm sorry that your brother is hurt that you're protecting my sister, but the way that you do makes my heart skip a beat. So I'm not sorry that you put her in front of him." Lena grabbed her wife's face and said, "You're in a tough spot and I'm sorry, but do you remember those nights where we'd trade off consoling Emily from nightmares? Do you remember those days where we'd walk her to her classes in law school because we just wanted to make sure she was safe? Do you remember those nights where Emily would curl into you because you were the only one who was able to make her feel remotely safe?" Stef nodded, "I'm not saying you can't take your brother's side, I'm just saying that while you're his sister, you're also Emily's sister too. So maybe you trade off who's side you take, but know this, I'll still love you even if you take your brother's side."

Lena leaned down and kissed her wife, slowly and passionately and then made out for a few minutes.

* * *

After Stef had fallen asleep, Lena made her way down to make herself some tea. She saw her sister watching tv with the volume down low, she made her way to her and sat next to her putting her arm around the lawyer tightly.

"Hey," Lena said as Emily put her head on her big sister's chest.

"Hey," Emily said back.

"Where's Ben?" Lena asked noticing that the man wasn't in the family room.

"Working in the kitchen." Emily said as she was watch the 24 hour news cycle.

"Are you two okay?" Lena asked. "You two normally cuddle when we watch a movie on Friday nights."

"We're still arguing and I think he and Stef are too." Emily said.

"They are," Lena confirmed. "Nothing you need to be worried about though."

"Do you think he's going to break up with me?" Emily whispered.

"I don't know honey." Lena said, "But, Stef and I will be here for you no matter what."

Lena kissed her sister's forehead, "You guys don't always have to take care of me, y'know. It's sweet, but if it's going to affect Stef and Ben's relationship, I don't think I could handle that." Emily said knowing that their relationship was a lot of what was going on between the brother and sister.

"We promised Mom and Dad that we would, especially after Alex." Lena said.

"But look at what it's putting Stef and Ben through," Emily said. "They didn't even talk or look at each other during dinner."

"That's their own battle honey." Lena said.

"I just wish that it could work out both ways." Emily said. "For Stef to still be able to protect me, but be there for her brother."

"I know," Lena said leaving a lingering kiss on her sister's forehead.

They sat there until Emily fell asleep and when she did, Lena put lied her on the couch, and finished her descent into the kitchen where sure enough she saw Ben in front of his MacBook, but he had his face in his hands and was silently crying.

"Ben?" Lena said softly not to scare the man.

The man looked up and said, "Oh hi Lena."

"What's wrong?" Lena asked.

"Uh I uh, it's nothing." Ben said.

Lena sat next to him and put her hand on his back, "Honey," she said softly.

"I'm fine Lena," he said. "Nothing you need to worry about."

"But I am worried about you," Lena said.

"I don't understand why." Ben said.

"Because I love you," Lena said.

"Mhm," Ben said putting his glasses back on to continue working. "Okay."

"Ben," Lena said.

"Look Lena, if you're in here to give me the typical speech about how Stef and Emily love me and I should get over my fears after Lilliana then please save it because I don't think I can hear it right now." Ben said.

"What's wrong?" Lena asked with her eyes widening a little. "Please tell me."

"It's really nothing I want to talk to you about Lena." He said. "I'm sorry."

"Did I do something?" Lena asked. "You and I, we always used to talk about stuff together. Even the hard stuff."

"Look, I'm tired and currently am avoiding my girlfriend right now and just don't want to talk." Ben said.

"Okay," she said kissing his temple, "I'll be up with my wife if you need me."

Lena walked out of the room and up the stairs and when she got into the room, she got in bed and curled into her wife.

* * *

It was 3:00am by the time Ben found the courage to go to the pull out couch to be with his girlfriend. He slowly climbed in bed before he heard, "Done for the night?"

"Yeah, we're wanting a new look for the website. Sorry to keep you up." He said softly.

Emily rolled from her side to her back looking at the ceiling, "Is it that you don't find me physically attractive or that you're scared you'll fuck it all up?" She asked.

"Okay, first of all, I think you're beautiful." Ben said, "And secondly, yes, I'm afraid I'll fuck it all up. I'm afraid that I'll have a panic attack halfway through and we'll stop and it'll just be awkward."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this the other night?" Emily said. "When we were making out and it was leading to that direction?"

"Because I felt stupid for not being ready at 23." He said.

"I wasn't ready at 23," Emily said. "Hell, I'm not sure if I'm ready at 26, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't want to try with you. And if it gets awkward, well then, we'll work through it, that's what we agreed to when we got together, to work through things together, no matter what."

"Can I hold you?" Ben asked. Emily nodded and put her head on his chest, and he said, "If you weren't ready, why'd you throw yourself out there?"

"I thought I was, but I really wasn't." Emily said.

"I love you baby," Ben murmured. "And I'm sorry I'm making you wait."

"Honestly, I didn't think we'd be together by this point, I'm sorry if I'm pushing your or making you feel uncomfortable. I love you too," she said. "What are you going to do about Stef?"

"I think she and I need to sit down and have a big heart-to-heart." Ben said. "We need to work things out. Find a mutual understanding."

"You know I think it's pretty fucked up that she chooses me over you, right?" Emily asked. "I love her, but you're her brother."

"And you're her sister," Ben said. "Who has been in her life longer than I have, so while I get it and it hurts, that's never going to change."

"Maybe you just need to find common ground." Emily said.

"Yeah, maybe." Ben said.

Ben then look at Emily and leaned in to kiss her and he deepened the kiss, making Emily pull back, "Are-are you sure? Because I can wait."

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life," he said pulling her back in, "We just have to be really quiet."

"Duh, that would be awkward for our sisters to find us in that position." Emily said pulling off his shirt. "We'll take it slow though."

"I like slow," Ben said kissing his girlfriend again.

* * *

The Elkin-blooded siblings found themselves at Ben's house watching college football the next day with beer, "I never understood football. Baseball yes. Basketball a little. But football? Never." Stef said trying to keep the tone light knowing that they were going to have a real heart-to-heart in a matter of moments.

"I don't understand basketball at all, so there's that." Ben said taking a sip of his beer. "So Lena's allowing you to drink?"

"Just as long as it's not around her and I brush my teeth real well before kissing her," Stef said. "Are we going to avoid this conversation for much longer?"

"Look, I'm sorry for losing it on you, that wasn't fair of me," Ben said.

"And it's not fair of me to just automatically assume that you're okay with me protecting Emily like I do." Stef said.

"Why do you? Because of Alex?" Ben asked. "Because I'd like to think that I've proven to you and Lena that I'm not that kind of guy and that I would never do that to her. She's the love of my life."

"We do put a lot of pressure on you when it comes to her and that's not fair of us. You both are legal, consenting adults that are allowed to live your own lives, but every single time I see Emily with a boyfriend, it brings me back to those times where Lena or I had to hold her from nightmares, from triggers, from everything." Stef took a sip of her beer. "I love Emily like a little sister and I get so protective because through work I've seen the worst. And I hate to see anybody I love have to go through that."

Ben nodded and said, "So that's why she'll always come before me?"

"It's not fair that I put her before you, but you're right, she has been in my life longer and I am protective of her. I'm sorry that I have ever made you feel like you don't matter to me because you do." The siblings made eye contact, "You're the best thing that's happened to me since Dad died."

"Even before Jude's adoption?" Ben asked with a shaky voice.

"Well second to Jude's adoption." Stef said remembering that day. "C'mere." She said as her brother moved from the love seat to next to her on the couch, she kissed his forehead when he curled into her, "I love you little brother."

"I love you too big sister." He said as they fell into a silence.

"And uh, don't worry about us bringing up your lack-their-of intimacy with Emily again. I was kind of out of line for doing so." Ben chuckled, remembering the night before on his sister and sister-in-law's pull out couch, "What?" She asked looking down at the small blush on her brother's face, "You two have? When?"

"Uhh are you sure you want the answer to that?" Ben asked.

"Benjamin Lincoln Carlson..." She said in a motherly tone.

"Okay, okay, just don't kill me or her, but last night we did some making up..." He said.

"And by some making up, you had sex with my and Lena's baby sister on our pull out couch?!" Stef said not believing what was coming out of her brother's mouth.

"Yeeeaaahhh," Ben let out.

"Unbelievable." Stef said as her phone rang, she looked at it and saw her wife's name come across the screen, "Hi my love." She answered.

_"Hi sweetheart, did you know that our siblings had at it on our pull out couch last night?" She asked._

"I just found this information out, did Emily tell you?" Stef asked.

_"Yeah, she did." Lena said. "Well we can officially say that I can't look at that pull out couch the same."_

"What are we going to do with these two, huh?" Stef asked rhetorically while kissing her brother's forehead.

_"They're lucky we love them," Lena said, unbeknownst to Stef, her wife had their little sister in her arms, and she kissed Emily's forehead at the same time._

"Yeah," Stef said. "So lucky."

* * *

**A/N2:** That has been going through my head about how to do it for awhile now, hope it wasn't too awkward, too fast, or too boring. It didn't turn out like I first envisioned it, but nothing in this story has.

So time jump in two chapters, so that's how long you have to keep voting for the gender or genders (if you want twins, which some of you don't because of Jude, which I understand).


	20. The Road To Thankfulness

**A/N:** I write part-time for a living and lately, I've gotten things for work back that make me feel like I've lost my creative game. So that's why I've apologized the last two chapters about it being boring.

Anyway, Callie's back in San Diego for Thanksgiving this chapter! I got a PM from somebody that wanted to see Callie in more than just a phone/FaceTime call, so here we go!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: The Road To Thankfulness**

Stef couldn't be more excited standing in the San Diego International Airport on Thanksgiving morning, Brandon had come home for the extended weekend just the night before and now Stef, Lena, and Mike were standing waiting for the college girl to make her way down to baggage claim.

"We're really lucky that the Wright-Carlson family took over cooking for Thanksgiving," Stef said. "Couldn't you have flown her in yesterday Mike?"

"It was cheaper this way," Mike argued.

"If you wouldn't have put $200 dollars in her bank account a couple of weeks ago, we wouldn't have this problem," Stef argued back.

"Hey," Lena said to her wife and her wife's ex husband, "this is already going to be one hell of an awkward holiday since we're combining all three families because she's only in town until Sunday, could you two cut it out with the arguing?"

"Sorry," they both mumbled.

Lena grabbed a hold of Stef's hand when they saw their college student of a daughter at the top of the escalator coming down, "Moms! Dad!" She called, all, but running down the escalator into Stef and Lena's waiting arms before hugging her dad.

"We're so happy to have you home, my love." Stef said kissing her face numerous times.

"Okay," Callie said trying to make the kissing stop, "Okay!" She said again.

"Sorry my love," Stef said, "I just missed you!"

When she managed to get out of her mother's embrace, she said, "I brought my bag on board because I figured we'd be going straight to Uncle Ben's and I didn't want to keep him, Aunt Emily, and my siblings waiting even longer, so what's the plan?"

"All your siblings are waiting at your uncle's house, your dad is joining us as well," Lena said.

"Awesome," Callie said as Mike put his arm loosely around her, "So it'd be okay if I rode with Dad to Uncle Ben's? I'm staying with you two while I'm here."

"Yeah," Stef said, "Go spend some time with your old man." She then looked at Mike, "Follow us?"

"Yeah, I've only been to his house once, so I don't have any idea where he lives from here." Mike said still with his arm wrapped around Callie.

"Cool, let's go!" Lena said happily.

Mike then took Callie's luggage and carried it to the car for her, "Thanks Daddy," she murmured softly.

* * *

"Do you think he's trying to make up for the fact that he wasn't in their lives much growing up?" Stef asked as she led them all to her brother's house.

"Maybe and even if he is, why do you care?" Lena asked placing a hand on the police officer's thigh. "He's a good dad. He means well, but you know it's like my parents and Emily, they were already so headstrong in their careers that they didn't pay attention to her, now? The girl gets wine and champagne from places that I used to travel to with Gretchen. That's expensive stuff."

"But, $200 dollars? C'mon, isn't that a bit much?" Stef asked.

"Put yourself in his shoes, honey," Lena said gently caressing her wife's thigh with her thumb.

"I wouldn't choose alcohol over my kids." Stef argued.

"But imagine if you did, how guilty you would've felt, that's how he feels about the big twins." Lena said. "He feels like he failed them."

"You're right," Stef said grabbing her wife's hand whilst at a stoplight. "Thanks for keeping my head in perspective."

"It's in the description of being your wife," Lena said bringing their connected hands up to kiss the back of Stef's. "Just be good, okay? The Wright-Carlson's don't need dinner entertainment with you and Mike, and we only have Callie for several days, I want to make the most out of this, okay?"

"Okay," Stef said turning onto Ben's street. "You're not going to let Callie leave your side, are you?"

"I missed my Callie snuggles okay? With the big twins gone and the little twins and Jude not letting me snuggle them very much, it's not that you aren't enough, but I miss kiddo snuggles."

Stef chuckled as she parked out side of Ben's house and they got out and Mike parked right behind them, "Looks like Brandon got the rest of the kids here okay." Stef said noticing Brandon's car.

"Yeah," Lena said waiting to pull Callie into her arms again.

Callie got out of the car and went straight into her mama's arms, "Hi Mama." Callie murmured.

"Hi my slug-a-bug," Lena said kissing the top of her head. "I love you."

"I love you too," Calle said with a huge smile.

The four of them walked to the door with Callie tucked under Lena's arm and then when they got to the door, Stef opened it and called out, "We're here and we come baring the Nittany Lion with us!"

The four of them hear four sets of feet stop what they were doing and all, but run towards Callie who was still tucked under Lena's arm, and when they saw that they slowed down before Stef could tell them too.

Callie stepped out of Lena's arm far enough to have her siblings practically pile on top of her, "Hi siblings," she managed.

"Callie," they all said.

Emily then came out next and said, "College girl!"

"Hey Aunt Emily," she said when her siblings unattached themselves from her. She went to give her aunt a hug, "I missed you."

"I missed you too love." Emily said softly.

Ben then came out of the kitchen and said, "I thought I heard a smarter college student in here," he said. "Welcome home, even if it's just for several days."

"Thank you Uncle Ben," Callie said hugging him really tight.

She was thanking him for more than welcoming her home and he knew it. Ever since her bad day, he would send her a good morning encouragement text, basically to keep her head up, stay strong, and that he was there if she needed an unworried ear to listen to her. Something they would talk about later.

"Come on in," Ben said to the four who just arrived. "My moms are making dinner, just a warning, we don't do turkey at the Wright-Carlson Thanksgiving. We do steak because well, my siblings and I don't like the taste of turkey. And Leo has claimed himself to be a vegetarian, so he get a vegetarian steak."

"You also don't like bacon either," Stef called him out, "you're officially weird."

"Well it takes a weirdo to know a weirdo, doesn't it?" Ben shot back.

"Hey, your elementary self called, he wants his line back." Stef shot back at her little brother.

"Hey Callie!" Ben's moms said. "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise," Callie said going to hug them hello.

"Hey Callie," Leah said.

"Hey munchkin," Callie said hugging the girl tight.

"Callie!" Leo's voice boomed as he walked into the kitchen giving the girl a big bear hug, "How are you? How was your flight?"

"I'm good. The flight was alright, bumpy from my layover in Chicago to here, but still worth it." She said as she leaned back into her mama.

"For sure," Leo said. "I'll be at West Point starting next fall, so I'll be having the same issues."

"Ahh yeah, that's about four hours away from where I'm at, my roommate's brother is attending there." Callie said.

"Oh, wow. That's pretty far." He said.

"We should work it out when we'll both be home at the same time to at least have the same layover, that way the second leg of the trip won't be as boring because well, I may have slept from Chicago to here, but it still would be nice to have a travel buddy."

"Definitely!" Leo said. "I like the sound of that."

* * *

Right before dinner Callie was buried deep into her mama's arms, Callie was asleep, but Lena was content with her oldest daughter back in her arms.

"Aww," Stef said as she came into the living room where Lena and Callie were. "This is so cute. I like you in mama mode."

"Thanks baby," Lena said as Stef kissed her softly. "How's dinner coming? Do you know?"

"It's almost ready," Stef said. "Does it look like she's lost weight?"

"I'm sure she has," Lena said. "She probably isn't eating half as much as she does here at home."

Stef bit her lip, "I don't know Lena, I worry." She said.

"I know baby." Lena said pulling her wife down next to her, "But, I'm sure Callie is fine. I bet anything she misses my cooking."

"I do," Callie said while she was stirring. "Cafeteria food sucks."

"Well dinner is almost ready," Stef said brushing hair out of Callie's face.

"Cool," Callie said burying her face more into Lena's chest. "Do I have to move though?"

The moms chuckled, "Oh honey, if you think I'm letting you out of my reach while you're here, you're very mistaken." Lena said.

"Wow and here I thought that Mom and my dad missed me the most." Callie said. "What? Did the little twins and Jude not cuddle with you while I was away?"

"You're the only kid that willing cuddles with me." Lena said. "Jude tries, but I know it's still hard for him."

Ben then came into the living room expecting to be alone when he said, "Benjamin Carlson." Pause. "Yes." Second pause. "Just dinner with my family, my girlfriend, and my sister's family." Third pause. "I'm sorry?" Fourth pause. "_The __Opinionated Buzz _does not have an opinion on that yet." Fifth pause. "We may not have one until early Monday morning as I gave my entire editorial board and reporter/photographer staff today through Monday off." Sixth pause. "Alright, sounds good. Mhm, goodbye now." Ben looked up to see three amused faces from his sister, sister-in-law, and niece, "What?"

"Business on Thanksgiving?" Stef asked.

"When you're a CEO, you'll understand my struggle." Ben said. "Dinner's ready."

"I want your phone," Stef said as they walked into the backyard where dinner was going to be held.

"Not happening," Ben said. "Contrary to what you and my mom believe, I have to keep my business running even on a holiday."

"Did he answer his phone for work?" Kelly asked the three women who joined them outside.

"He did," Stef confirmed.

"Benji," Kelly said.

"Why does this surprise you love?" Payton asked Kelly rubbing her back, "That boy doesn't know what a day off is even if he tried."

"Yeah and even if you try to take his phone away, he'll find a different way to keep working." Leo said.

Emily came over and whispered in his ear while they were still talking, "Can we please just limit the work calls today?" She asked softly.

"Only if you stay the night," Ben said looking back up with a small smirk on his face.

Ever since they were intimate for the first time two weeks before, they couldn't keep their hands off each other when they were alone. Sure there had been bumps along the road, but it was still a beautiful thing that happened between them.

"Deal," Emily said kissing him softly.

"Really?" Jesus said to his aunt and uncle. "At the table?"

"Hey," Ben said, "it's my place, I can kiss your aunt as much as I please."

"Just as long as you keep the shenanigans in one of _your_ bedrooms and you keep it in your pants out here, we'll be good." Stef said giving the young couple a smirk.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Payton asked her son.

"Nothing," he quickly said as they both blushed. "Absolutely nothing."

"It doesn't seem like nothing," Brandon pointed out.

"It's an inside joke between the four of us," Emily said gesturing between her sisters, her boyfriend, and herself.

"Just as long as your doing it safe," Payton said looking directly at her son. "I can redo that talk we had when you were about 14."

Ben spit out some of the beer he was drinking, "No Mama, not necessary." He said. "Really not necessary."

"Did it involve a plug and an outlet?" Leo asked.

"Yes, yes," Ben said. "Let's not have this conversation with the other kids around please."

"We live in a sex positive home." Lena said trying making her brother-in-law feel more comfortable.

"Which is why I stole one of the condoms from the kids bathroom," Emily whispered to her boyfriend.

"What?" Everybody at the table said.

Suddenly, Ben was grateful that his little sister was taking her time in the bathroom, "I wasn't prepared," Ben said. Ben then looked to Mike who sat wide eyed at the entire conversation and Ben then changed the subject successfully, "Who's hungry?" He asked.

"I'm not sure if I can be after that conversation," Mariana said.

"Yeah," both Jude and Jesus said at the same time.

"See," Ben said to his mama and sister. "You scared some of the kids."

"Try all of them," Callie said.

The adults looked at the kids who had blank expressions on their faces, "Alright," Kelly said. "Let's attempt to eat?"

The kids nodded and then there was chaos dishing up food and when Leah finally made her way out of the house to join the family.

* * *

"So since we're hosting this year," Kelly said, halfway through dinner. "We do our little Thanksgiving traditions differently."

"How differently?" Jesus asked earning warning glares from his mothers, "What? It's an innocent question."

"Did the word innocent just come out of Jesus Adams Foster's mouth?" Callie asked in her place between Lena and Brandon.

"Things can change in three and a half months." He said with a shrug.

"Anyway," Payton said taking over for her wife, "we don't know if you Adams Foster and Foster's do this, but we want to go around the table in a moment of gratitude and say what we're thankful for in general and what we're thankful for that happened this year."

"They do it at dinner every night," Ben tried to explain further, "Teaching us how to be thankful for what we have in every day life, but this is how we do it on Thanksgiving."

"Wow," Lena said, "did you come up with the exercise on your own?" She asked the couple.

"Kind of," Payton said. "When we decided to become foster parents, we realized that we had a lot, but we complained more than we should. So it started out as pillow talk between the two of us and then right before Ben left, we brought it to the family level."

"Anyway," Kelly said, "Payton baby, do you want to start?"

"Of course," Payton said grabbing her wife's hand under the table, "You finish bud?" She asked Ben who was sitting at the head of the table next to her.

Ben chuckled, "Per tradition." He said.

"Alright, so thankfulness from this year?" Payton thought about it for a moment. "I'm thankful that I'm alive." She looked around at her kids and her wife, "I know that heart attack in June really scared you all, so while I'm thankful for my two sons, my daughter, and my wife, I'm also thankful that I'm still here with you four." The entire Wright-Carlson family had tears in their eyes, "And on a general level, I'm thankful for my job, my family, my wife."

It went around the table, Kelly was thankful that her wife was still alive this year and for her family, and that they were happy.

Leo was thankful that he got a scholarship and full admittance into West Point and for finding love and for his family and his new friends in the Adams Foster family.

Leah was thankful for finding love in soccer and her family.

Jude was thankful to finally have found his forever family and that he was getting good grades in school.

Mariana was thankful for second chances, she said that making eye contact with her moms who found the love and grace to forgive her after the shooting and she was thankful for her family.

Jesus was thankful for his family and for a lot of food on the table. Mike was thankful to be 9 months sober and for his kids.

Brandon was thankful for the opportunities that his band has found, for graduating from high school in the top 10% of his class, and that his twin was home for the holidays.

Callie was thankful for her first home cooked meal since leaving for Pennsylvania and for her the love of her family.

Lena was thankful to be married and happy and healthy.

Stef was thankful for getting her head out of her ass to be married, for her family, new and old.

Emily was thankful to have made partner earlier on that year, that she was happy, and for her family.

And when it got to Ben, it was something that nobody thought would come out of his mouth.

"It's hard not to be thankful this year," he said. "Not when I have an amazing family," he said gesturing to the majority of the table, "new friends," he said gesturing to Mike as they had bonded over the Dodgers multiple times that year, "and an amazing girlfriend." He said squeezing Emily's hand under the table, "And while we lost some this year," he said making eye contact with Stef, where they both smiled at the thought of their father, "We definitely gained some." He said smiling at her a little longer, "I'm not saying that I'm thankful for Dad's death," he said, "but you still probably would have been that long lost sister that I've been wanting to meet since I was a child. While I'm thankful to be happy, healthy, and surrounded by family, I'm thankful for you," he said to Stef. "You've challenged, frustrated, and made me a better man in ways that your little sister never could. So for that I thank you Stef."

Stef's eyes filled with tears as did Ben's and she said while getting up to hug him, "We said we'd never do mushy unless it was just the two of us."

"I know," Ben said, "I love you Stef."

"I love you too, Ben."

Kelly, Payton, and Lena looked with soft smiles to the brother-sister duo, this is something they could be thankful for.

* * *

Lena held Callie really close when Ben came in looking for the soccer player, "Oh sorry," he said watching the mama cuddle with her daughter.

"No, it's fine, what's up?" Lena asked.

"Is it okay for me to steal Callie for a few moments?" Ben asked hesitantly.

"I promise Mama, this won't be the last time we snuggle before I have to go." Callie said before kissing the woman's cheek.

"Alright," Lena said as Stef fell down next to her and practically pulled the pregnant woman into her lap.

Ben and Callie left the room leaving the couple to talk, "We can get one of the other kids to snuggle with you when she's gone," Stef said.

"Callie does it willingly," Lena said. "She always has. Ever since she finally warmed up to me."

"I always loved you Mama," Callie called from the staircase, "I just needed to know that you were going to stay."

Lena put her head on Stef's chest and called back, "Love you my slug-a-bug."

"Love you Mama." Callie called back.

"I love you my beautiful love," Stef said directly into Lena's ear.

"I love you too," Lena said kissing Stef softly as Ben's moms came to sit across from them. Stef and Lena smiled at them while the principal said, "Thank you for dinner."

"Oh," Payton said as Kelly curled into her, "no problem. Hope it was cooked enough for you. Ben said that you two are expecting?"

Stef smiled, "We are, our sixth and final child." She said, "Well until they start popping out grandkids."

Lena glared at her wife, "Not fostering anymore?" Kelly asked.

"We let our fostering license expire," Lena said. "We're ready to settle down."

"That's cool," Kelly said.

"Are you two pretty settled?" Stef asked.

"We're talking about at least one more when Leo leaves for West Point." Payton said.

"Foster-adopt or-?" Lena tried.

"Foster-adopt," Kelly said. "With her heart and my job, we don't want to push getting pregnant."

"That makes sense." Lena said.

Silence washed over the four when Kelly asked, "How's our boy really doing?"

"In what regards?" Stef wanted to clarify.

"How is he?" Payton reasked her wife's question, "Is he doing alright mentally? Emotionally? Is he eating three meals a day? Like how is he?"

"He's doing better," Lena answered. "We had a small hiccup a couple of weeks ago."

"I always put Emily before him and he never really voiced that problem until a couple of weeks ago." Stef said.

"Emily has been in your life longer," Kelly said. "It makes sense, but I also can see where he's coming from."

"He always needed an older sibling in his life," Payton said. "He may have graduated high school at 15, but he was an intelligent, rebellious child."

"And that was our fault," Kelly said burying her face into her wife's chest. "If we'd only pay attention to him growing up."

"Hey," Stef said, "you raised an honorable man."

"We know he's honorable now, but we still feel a little guilty for leaving him hanging like we did." Payton said.

"You should see how his eyes light up when he talks about you two," Lena assured. "It's almost like the bad things in the world don't exist."

"That's funny because when he talks about one of you, one of your kids, or Emily it's the same way," Payton said.

"He's a family man for sure," Stef said thinking about how he was at that moment upstairs checking in with their oldest daughter after a couple of hard weeks.

"And your oldest boy? Brandon?" Kelly said, "He's such a sweetheart."

"Yeah," Stef said looking in seeing that he was listening to Leah talk to him about something and was actually interested in what she was saying, "he's a good kid."

* * *

Ben and Callie were sitting on the balcony right outside his bedroom, "So how's it been really?" Ben asked. "You do look like you've lost some weight."

"They don't have the freshman play the first year, just conditioning, but our diet is restrictive." Callie said. "And I missed my mama's home cooked meals and the chaos that comes with a family dinner."

"I bet," Ben said.

"Uncle Ben?" Callie said.

"Yeah?" He replied back to his niece handing her a bottle of root beer.

"Do you think I made the right choice?" Callie asked.

"It doesn't matter what I think kiddo," Ben said.

"But still, I want thoughts." Callie said.

"I think you made the right choice. Being stuck is the worst place you could be in." He responded.

"Yeah, thanks Uncle Ben." She said as they sat on the bench facing the ocean, she placed her head on his shoulder and cuddled into him.

"So is it everything you hope it to be?" Ben asked kissing his niece's forehead.

"Kinda." Callie murmured. "You have no idea how much your morning text messages mean to me. Do you always get up at 4?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I start my day at the gym at 4:30." Ben said.

"Committed." Callie said.

"Yeah, anyway," Ben said, "how's the roommate situation?"

Callie sighed, she had confided in her uncle about how her roommate would always subtly kick her out of the room to be with some guy, and she was kind of tired of it.

"I talked to the RA like you told me to," she said, "and while she talked to my roommate, I don't foresee it stopping. The RA even suggested getting a new roommate next semester."

"I would," Ben said, "My moms always paid for the bachelor's dorm for me, but I had friends with those problems who would crash on my floor occasionally.

"Do you like living alone?" Callie asked. "That may become a problem if and when you and Aunt Emily get more serious."

"I do like it, but I'd adjust for your aunt." Ben said.

"You really make her happy," Callie said, "And I know my moms put a lot of pressure on you to keep her that way, that must suck."

"They're protective of her," Ben said. "Like you are with your siblings."

"But, they aren't protective of you?" Callie asked.

"They are," Ben said, "believe me, they are. It's just different."

"What do you mean?" Callie asked.

"You know how they're protective of you kids and Aunt Emily and it's different?" He asked and she nodded, "They're protective of you kids because it's their jobs as mothers to protect you. Your mom watched you grow from the inside of her womb and beyond. Your mama watched you grow for the last 12 to 13 years and watched bullies beat you up and hurt you. And your mama saw Emily do the same, but the thing is they don't have to necessarily protect Emily, but they choose to because they love her." He took a deep breath, "They protect you all from physical hurdles and emotional inner demons. I can handle the physical hurdles myself, so they protect me from the emotional inner demons."

"Like your nightmares?" Callie said making her uncle give her a confused look, "They were talking about it in the hotel when they dropped me off in Pennsylvania while I was in the shower. Hotel walls are thin. I don't judge."

"Yeah, like my nightmares." Ben said. "As awkward as it sounds, I find comfort in sleeping in your mama's arms after a nightmare."

"You and me both." Callie said. "When I was little and would have one she would always hold me and hum until I fell back asleep and the next morning, she'd be there holding me. She did it before I even called her Mama. It's just so comforting."

"You really love your mama don't you?" Ben asked.

"She's the best mama ever," Callie said.

"I beg to differ, I think _I_ have the best mama ever." Ben said playfully. "Your mama comes in at a close second though."

"Psh," Callie said with a huge smile because she did forget about Payton for a moment, "Whatever! My mama is way better than your mama ever will be."

"Oh yeah? You wanna see about that?" Ben said tackling his niece down to the ground and tickling her.

Callie giggled, "Uncle Ben, stop. Please stop. Uncle Ben!" She giggled. "Okay, fine. You win!"

Ben got up and said, "That's what I'm talking about." He smiled and said, "You doing better now?"

"I am, thank you!" Callie said.

"Alright, let's go back down." Ben said wrapping a loose arm around the girl.

As they went back down, Ben couldn't be more thankful for Callie giving him a chance. If you were to tell either of them when they first met that they'd have the uncle-niece relationship they do now, neither one of them would have believed you. But, once they got passed that first hurdle, it was what Callie would later say was the best family relationship she ever had and that's even above her relationship with either one of her moms which would come into a close second.

* * *

**A/N2:** Spring break from school and work means I can write more of my own stuff! :)

So next chapter we're meeting the baby (even if they are in Lena's womb still)! I'm getting an overwhelming response in my PM and even some reviews for boy/girl twins. We'll have to see what happens when I write!

See you in the next chapter!


	21. The Road To Heartbeats

**A/N:** I'm baaack!

This probably was one of my favorite chapters to write.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One: The Road To Heartbeats**

Stef woke up the morning that they were to find out the gender of their baby... or babies, Lena was at five months, but she was looking a little larger than that. It's something that she kept to herself and made sure the three kids and her brother did too. She knew Emily could keep it to herself and she guessed that her brother might have been able to, but it was obvious that there was more than one in there. She didn't know, despite going to the initial doctor's appointment to find out that they were pregnant, Stef was unable to attend the ones after, and though she forced her wife to tell her every single detail about the appointment, she knew that her wife was keeping something from her.

Stef rolled over to see her wife already awake with a baby book in her hand, "Morning beautiful," Stef said, voice still thick with sleep.

"Morning sweetheart," Lena said leaning down to kiss her wife. "Sleep well?"

"I did," Stef said sitting up, "How about you, my love?"

"I did," she said. "Minus the parts where your child decided that my ribs were punching bags."

"I'm sorry love," Stef said as she pulled the covers up to talk to the baby bump. "Were you keeping Mama up?" She asked before placing numerous kisses on her wife's growing belly.

Lena hummed, she loved it when her wife got mushy with the family. She knew since the beginning of the relationship that Stef always put her family first. She made sure when they were first dating that Brandon and Callie's needs were met, she made sure that Lena's needs were met, all before her own. It one of the many things that makes Lena fall in love with Stef all over again. The strong, fierce love that the police officer had for her family.

She remembers the first time that she brought Emily into the family of four's life. She remembered how Stef had to meet her first before she would allow the kids to meet her. But, she remembered how Emily wormed her way into Stef's heart, right from the get go.

_Flashback._

Lena was making dinner for Stef, Emily, and herself. Emily was going to make a move from Palo Alto to San Diego because of the law program that she wanted to be in. Meaning that she was going to be apart of Lena's life and a lot of the school administrator's life was Stef Foster and her two little children. When Lena asked if Stef, Callie, and Brandon could meet Emily, the police officer insisted that she met the future lawyer first. She was a protective mama tiger as Lena always calls her. So on a Friday night, Lena made it happen, her girlfriend and baby sister were going to meet.

Emily was staying with Lena whilst she got up and on her feet in San Diego and to be quite honest, it was what the big sister wanted for the little sister to do. She heard the apartment door open and close and then she heard, "Sissy? I'm home."

"Hi sissy," Lena called from the kitchen. "How was your day?"

"Good," Emily said. "UC San Diego Law is pretty intense though."

"You said the same thing about pre-law at Stanford." Lena said as she put the lasagna in the oven. "And you've liked it up until now."

"Maybe it's because I'm nervous about meeting your girlfriend," Emily said.

"Now that I believe," Lena said as she set the timer before going over to her sister's side. "Honey, she's going to love you. She just is being extra cautious because dating is already complicated, but dating with a kid, or in her case two kids, is even more complicated. Y'know it took Stef six months to introduce me to her kids as her girlfriend?"

"Really?" Emily asked. They may have been sisters, but they tried to stay out of each other's love lives as much as possible.

Lena nodded as the doorbell rang, "She's protective of the ones that she loves. She'll be that way with you soon," she said as she got up to get to the door.

Lena opened the door to Stef who it was obvious came straight from work, "Hi sorry," she said. "It was a battle to get the kids to their dad's and getting here on time."

Lena leaned into kiss her girlfriend, "It's fine sweetheart, come in, Emily just got home." She said as Stef shut the door and led the police officer in by the hand. When they came into the kitchen, Emily was sitting there waiting, "Stef this is my sister Emily. Sissy this is Stef."

"Nice to meet you," they both said at the same time.

The three sat down, Lena poured two glasses of wine for her and Stef and grabbed Emily a soda out of the refrigerator as she was still 18.

"So you're a police officer?" Emily asked curiously to Stef.

Stef nodded, "I am, was in the academy straight out of high school." She said. "Law school right?"

Emily nodded, "Yeah," she said. "Business and cooperate law."

"Wow, impressive." Stef said. "Your sister said that you went to Stanford for undergrad and pre-law?"

Emily blushed a little, "Yeah," she said should've known better that her sister was going to brag about her. "I had a little pull though. Our parents personally know the president of the institution."

"Don't listen to her," Lena said making a salad. "She worked hard to get to where she is now."

"You're just like your sister," Stef said, "you don't give yourself enough credit."

Emily looked to Lena who was looking right back at her, "She's right," Lena said, "We don't give ourselves enough credit."

The sisters continued to look at each other having a silent conversation with their eyes, it was going well and they both knew it.

_End Flashback._

She smiled after coming out of the memory to Stef still talking to her stomach, "You gotta let Mama sleep love." Stef said before placing more kisses on her wife's pregnant belly. She then came back up to wrap an arm around her wife, "So what's the plan today my love?" She asked her wife.

"The appointment is at 2:30, so I was thinking that maybe you could pick me up from work, we'll go to the appointment, and then pick up dinner on the way home?"

"That sounds like a good plan," Stef said. "How're you feeling?"

"Good, I think I'm passed the morning sickness phase, thank god." Lena said resting her head on Stef's shoulder.

Stef hummed, "So we still have time before the kids get up," she said suggestively.

"Other stuff?" Lena asked suggestively back as she put the book down and pulled her wife into a deep kiss.

* * *

"You have today off?" Ben asked as his sister walked into his office in civilian clothing instead of her uniform.

"Yeah," Stef said, "Mike and I have to work doubles for the next few days, so they gave us today off."

"That's cool." Ben said. "Well not that you're working doubles, but y'know..."

"Yeah," Stef said noticing that the man looked off, "Are you alright?"

"Hm?" He said. "Oh yeah, I'm fine."

"Bro," she said. "What's going on?"

He sighed, "Have you ever had one of those days where you wake up cuddled up next to Lena and you know you don't want to leave the spot, but you know you have to be a grown up, so you do?" Stef nodded. "That's the kind of day I'm having right now. It's a really shitty day if you ask me."

"Do you and Emily live together now?" Stef asked not intentionally ignoring that her brother had just said that he was having a bad day.

"We might as well," Ben replied, thankful for the distraction. "She's having a problem with her roommate right now anyway. And I gave her a key not all that long ago," he added with a small blush.

"Aww, you're growing." Stef teased. "And yeah, Tasha isn't always the easiest to live with. Can't tell you the number of nights that Emily has either spent in the office or with us because of it."

"Yeah," Ben said. "It's why she's over at my place more often than not. I've thought about asking her to move in."

Stef put her fork down, "Woah, wait _you? Commitment?_ Wasn't it your moms that said that getting you to settle down was near impossible?"

Ben blushed, "So I was a little bit of a delinquent after high school, I felt, well, _replaced._" He said grabbing water for them.

"Honey, it was just a joke." Stef said as he handed her water. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to Emily."

Ben chuckled, "She's the best thing that's ever happened to _me._" He said. "I remember when I met her," he added. "We were just starting the company up and she and Leroy came in to talk to us. And I don't think I paid any attention during that meeting because I was so nervous."

_Flashback._

Ben walked into the conference room where his three business partners and the partners of the law firm they were looking into for the company were sitting at.

"Alright, sorry I'm late," Ben said not looking up quite yet. "I had a family emergency."

"It's fine," Raider said. "Leroy and Emily just got here."

Ben the looked up at Leroy and said, "Benjamin Carlson."

"Leroy Fisher," the man said shaking his hand back, "and this is my partner Emily Adams."

Ben looked from the man to the beautiful woman standing up next to him, "It's nice to meet you, Benjamin." Emily said with a soft smile that Ben would later find out resembled her older sister's.

"You-you too," he got out and sat down as they started their meeting.

Ben couldn't concentrate on anything that the two lawyers were saying, all he could think about is how the 20-something year old, curly haired, beautiful lawyer was sitting in front of him. Every once in awhile the future couple would make eye contact and both would blush and look away.

As the meeting ended, Raider said, "I think we've found our lawyer match. What do you think fellas?" Levi and Jonah nodded, but Ben had yet to respond. "What about you Ben?"

Ben snapped out of whatever haze he was in, "Hm? What? Yeah. Sounds good." He said still looking softly at Emily.

Raider nodded skeptically at the man, Benjamin Carlson was a normally put together kind of man, so either something happened in his family or something was going on right then and there, he didn't know which one it was.

What he didn't know is that every time Ben did speak, Emily's heart would skip a beat, and would make everything around her fuzzy. All she could focus on was the half Asian, half white man in front of her. He seemed so mysterious and so well put together. She wanted to get to know him.

_End Flashback._

"She came home that night in deep thought," Stef remembered. "And when Lena asked if she was okay, she jumped because she was frazzled a little. We knew it was because of a guy, but with the whole thing with Alex, we didn't push it initially. In fact, we didn't push it until you came into the picture and we saw how perfect you are for each other."

Ben chuckled scooping food into his mouth, "Perfect for each other?" He raised an eyebrow, "Stef, I don't believe in soulmates or whatever."

"Just how you both are nerdy, you both are career driven, you both love what you do. You take care of each other because we know the nights you don't eat with us, she comes and makes you eat." Stef said. "She makes you happy, you make her happy. I've never seen two people so in love."

"Then clearly you haven't seen the way that you and Lena look at each other." Ben said.

"Unfortunately I cannot be on the outside looking in," Stef said, "but for our children's groans and your and Emily's endless teasing, I know we're doing something right."

"You love each other," Ben said. "Which says a lot these days, you two obviously have to work at your relationship, but it's more than obvious of the love you two have for each other. It's like how my moms look at each other."

"Really?" Stef asked knowing how Kelly and Payton look at each other.

Ben nodded, "But, better because in my mind it's less annoying." He said through a chuckle.

"You look at Emily like that," Stef said. "Like she's the only girl in the world."

"Because she is," Ben said. "In my eyes at least."

* * *

"Alright ladies," Doctor Hillcroft said, "are you two ready?"

Stef and Lena were sitting at the doctor's office more than ready to find out what they were having. Stef more curious to see how _many_ they were having. She knew that Lena would want to surprise her with that kind of information just to see the surprised, shocked look on her face when the doctor says it out loud.

"Yes," the couple said as Lena slipped her hand into her wife's.

"How many children do you have currently?" The doctor asked as she continued to look on the screen.

"Five," Stef said. "Three boys."

"And two girls," Lena finished.

"Well, you're going to have another little boy and..." the doctor let it trail off.

"And?" Stef said a little shocked and surprised.

"Oh right," Doctor Hillcroft said, "Lena wanted to surprise you. You're having twins."

Stef looked from the doctor to the screen to her wife who then said, "Surprise?"

"So what else are we having?" Stef asked stroking the back of her wife's hand with her thumb.

"Annnnd a little girl." Doctor Hillcroft practically sang.

"Another set of boy/girl twins," Lena breathed.

"I think that's a record in one house," Stef joked before kissing her wife's forehead.

"How many do you have currently?" The doctor asked.

"Well living with us right now, one, but Stef gave birth to twins over 18 years ago." Lena said placing her hand on her belly. "Hi babies."

"Yeah hi babies," Stef said placing her hand over her wife's.

"Do you wanna hear their heartbeats?" The doctor asked the couple, primarily Stef who hadn't heard them yet. They both nodded and murmured yes.

The couple stared at each other for a moment before finishing up their appointment and heading home, Stef had in mind jokingly giving her brother grief that night as they were going to celebrate their babies who were healthy and just under four months from making the entrance in this world.

* * *

"You knocked my wife up with twins!" Stef practically yelled as Ben walked into the kitchen hand-in-hand with Emily.

"Twins?!" Emily said excitedly. "Really? Boys? Girls?"

"Another set of boy/girl twins." Lena said placing her hands on her stomach, something that in a little under four months, she'd miss doing.

"Technically, _you_ knocked her up," Ben said. "Just because I provided part of why they're conceived doesn't mean I knocked her up. Sure, I did some work, but you're the one who impregnated your wife." He squeezed Stef's shoulder. "Just saying."

Stef side hugged her brother and then attempted to give him a noogie, "I love you." She said to him softly for only him to hear.

"I love you too," he said back in the same manner. "Could you maybe let go of the headlock you have me in?"

Stef let go of her brother after kissing his temple and then Stef looked over at Lena, who was looking at her phone with a sad expression on her face, "What's wrong my love?" Stef asked coming behind her wife.

"I've been trying to call Callie all afternoon, but she's not answering." Lena said. "Normally when she can't talk, she'll send a text promising to call later."

"She maybe be busy baby." Stef said kissing the base of her wife's neck. "You know how she gets when she gets a B+ on something."

"Yeah," Lena said evident that pregnancy hormones were kicking in. "I miss my slug-a-bug though."

Stef continued to hold her wife from behind, "I'm sorry my love," she whispered soothingly. "I'm sure she's not meaning to ignore you."

Stef looked up to see that Emily and Ben were giving them a moment alone as they were engrossed into emails and text messages on their phones. Out of nowhere Lena's phone rang and it was Callie.

Lena wiped the tears from her eyes and answered her phone, "Hi slug-a-bug." She said.

_"Hi Mama," Callie said. "I'm sorry, I was in the shower and I don't take my phone into the bathroom with me."_

"It's fine baby," Lena murmured.

_"Were you crying?" Callie asked._

Lena chuckled, the girl was just like her mother, "I'm fine baby," she assured. "I just miss you. B is home every other weekend. It's not the same without you."

_"I'm sorry Mama," Callie said feeling bad. "Really I am."_

"It's alright baby," Lena said. "We found out what we're having today." She added switching it to speak.

_"Oh?" Callie said. "Did you finally tell Mom you're having twins?"_

"You knew?!" Stef asked into the phone incredulously.

_"Well yeah, it's a perk of being the only child the cuddles with Mama." Callie said. "She told me when I was there last month for Thanksgiving, I get to hear almost all the secrets."_

"Almost all?" Stef asked.

_"I don't NEED to know about your and Mama's sex life, y'know." Callie joked back._

"Truth," Ben called out from the background.

_"Uncle Ben is there?" Callie asked._

"Yeah, so it your Aunt Emily." Lena said. "Sorry slug-a-bug, you're on speaker."

_"That's okay," Callie said softly. "I love it. So you found out what you're having?"_

"Another set of boy/girl twins," Lena sung softly.

_"Oh wow," Callie said. "That's a record in one household."_

"That's what we were just saying," Stef said rubbing Lena's back.

_"So when exactly are you due Mama?" Callie asked._

"April 4th." Lena said.

_"Oh the end of my spring break," Callie said. "And they say twins tend to come early, so I'm hoping to be home when they're born."_

"Me too baby," Lena said. "But, you'll be home in a week for two whole weeks, which I'm excited for."

"Me too," Stef said. "How are you baby?" She asked her daughter. "Doing okay?"

_"Mhm," Callie acknowledged. "Finals are stressing me out. These finals make Anchor Beach's finals look like a walk in the park. I never knew I could be so tense in my entire life."_

"Welcome to college," both Ben and Emily said earning glares from their respective sisters. That's not what Callie needed to hear in that moment.

_"Yeah, I never realized it had to be this hard," Callie said. "But, I'll be fine."_

"If you need _anything,_ please call me or Mom." Lena said leaning back into Stef.

_"Okay," Callie said. "Well, I'm going to go study now. I love you, all."_

"We love you too," the four adults said at the same time.

"Be safe," Stef said.

_"I will Mom, bye."_

They said their goodbyes and then Lena felt the baby kick, "Oooh," she said.

"What is it baby?" Stef asked as Lena took Stef's hand to feel where one of the babies were kicking.

"Oh man," Stef said. "This is really happening."

"Twins," Emily then murmured remembering when she met Brandon and Callie.

_Flashback._

Emily was walking up to Stef's house behind Lena. When Lena used a key to open the door, Emily said, "So you really do live here."

Lena chuckled, "I might as well," she said. "I watch the kids after school anyway." The two walked into the house, "Stef honey?" She called.

"Hey," Stef said as she sauntered over to her girlfriend and Emily. The couple shared a long passionate kiss.

"Get a room," Emily said as Stef playfully started to pick Lena up, "Alright, I was kidding."

The couple pulled out of the kiss and Stef said, "Hi Emily."

The two had made only a couple of days before and were still nervous around each other.

"Hi Stef." Emily said opening her arms for a hug.

Stef hugged her back as the three adults heard footsteps, "Babies," Stef said. "Come meet Lena's sister Emily."

Brandon came running towards them while Callie stayed put, the girl was just getting used to Lena being around and while Callie loved Lena, she didn't know about this sister of hers.

"So loves," Lena said getting down to their level, "this is my baby sister Emily. Baby sister, these are the two beautiful children I've been telling you about. Brandon and Callie."

Emily got down to their level much like her sister had and said, "Hi," while waving her hand.

"Hi," both Brandon and Callie said.

Callie then buried her face into Stef's legs, "She's a little shy," Stef said. "She'll warm up to you soon."

"Do you want to play with us before dinner?" Brandon then asked Emily.

"Of course." Emily responded as Brandon grabbed her hand and pulled her to the living room where a bunch of legos were.

"Go play," Stef said to Callie. The girl slowly went to where they were playing.

Emily played with Brandon and Callie for close to an hour before the pizza got there and Lena curled into Stef as they watched the future lawyer play with the two kids. Knowing that she'd be a good influence on her life.

_End Flashback._

Emily shook out of the sweet memory as Lena cleared her throat, "There's something Stef and I need to talk to you two about."

"What's up?" Ben asked pulling Emily into his lap on the chair.

"We've been talking," Lena said. "And god forbid anything were to happen to us, we want you two to take care of the twins."

"Like as in-?" Ben was trying to put the pieces together.

"We would like the two of you to be like second parents of the our last set of twins," Stef said.

The younger couple looked at each other, getting good at having conversations with their eyes, Emily nodded at him, "You said you didn't want me to be a parent-like figure in your child's life? That's why I signed a donor agreement? I'm confused."

"Like we said," Lena said, "god forbid anything were to happen to us, we want to know that Babies Adam Foster will be taken care of."

"And as much as it comes off as a surprise to you," Stef said, "we want it to be you two. We also would like a male figure in the boy's life and you've got a good head on your shoulders bro." She added smiling at him.

"We can live with that," Emily said.

"Yeah," Ben said. "Most definitely."

* * *

**A/N2:** I love writing flashbacks into their lives. I might do more of them.

Wanted to get this up before I leave for San Diego for the weekend! Hope you guys liked it!

Now, I need me some names for these babies because naming all my OC's was hard enough as it is.

See you in the next chapter!


	22. The Road To A Question

**A/N:** Woooah! Over 100 reviews? Damn people, I definitely don't do it for them, but that's super kind of you!

There has been a two month time jump - so this chapter is two months into the future from the last chapter!

It's pretty Ben and Emily centric, but there's a surprise towards the end of the chapter that Stef&amp;Lena + family will like.

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two: The Road To A Question**

Ben's knee was bouncing up and down, he had just gotten through a holiday chaos with both his family and Stef and Lena's families. And during the chaos of the holidays, he got to see his niece again, and then he got to see Emily and Lena's parents again, and throughout the entire holiday the parents kept dropping down real commitment.

Ben knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Emily Mae Adams. Emily knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Benjamin Lincoln Carlson.

But were they ready to take that step? Were they ready to make that commitment?

They both found themselves looking at Stef and Lena a lot, they knew marriage took a lot of work, they knew the key was communication. It was something they had in their relationship already work and communication.

Ben knew he had his demons to work through, he knew that he would be fighting them for the rest of his life, but he was in an intense battle with them at the time and he was trying to work through them solo. Not asking for help and he was kind of tired of doing it that way.

So when Stef came in for their daily weekday lunch and noticed something off with him, she asked, "What's going on up there?"

Ben snapped out of whatever zone he was in, "Hm? What? Oh, nothing. You picked up burgers?" He asked seeing the bag in her hand.

"Lena's been a little sick lately, so she hasn't been making home cooked meals," Stef said. "The twins are keeping her over the toilet as of late."

"Ah yes, I'm not going to apologize about that." He said. "You asked for me to provide the other part for her."

Stef chuckled handing him a burger, "So what's captivating your thoughts there, buddy?" She asked.

"Your in laws were pushing pretty hard for me to make a commitment with Emily." He said.

Stef chocked on the first bite of her burger, "You've been together two seconds," she reasoned.

"Nine months actually," he said.

"Buddy, I didn't ask Lena to marry me until like 12 years into our relationship." Stef said.

"Most of that time, you two couldn't have married," Ben reasoned. "Which, by the way, I'm still pretty pissed that I missed your wedding by two months."

"Lena wants to renew our vows on our tenth wedding anniversary, so I think you're in luck to see it happen again." Stef said.

"I know, but still hearing your mom and Lena's parents talking about how beautiful it was over Christmas made me a little jealous." He said.

"I wish you were there." Stef said. "I wish Dad was there too."

"I would've come if you would've known about me," Ben said.

"Well, I'll be at yours." Stef said.

Ben smiled a dopey half smile, "Yeah, you will." He said.

"Do you want to marry Emily?" Stef asked getting them back on subject.

"I've been thinking about it," he said. "A lot actually."

"Yeah?" Stef said with a huge smile on her face.

"I've always wanted to be a husband and a father." Ben said. "And sure, some of that had to do with how bad of a father Dad was. I mean he tried, but he still could've done a lot better accepting you and your life and supporting mine. He never liked that I was a businessman with a journalism degree. He wanted me to become a police officer. I just couldn't see myself doing that. Sure, the military, but by the time I was eligible to do it, I had so many mental issue that they wouldn't have taken me."

"But, you wanted to be a husband and a father?" Stef asked.

"I did," he said. "Seeing you with your kids and Lena makes me realize what I'm getting myself into, but I want to make it happen."

"But, you aren't ready?" Stef asked taking a bite out of her burger.

"It's not that I'm not ready, it's I'm afraid I'll fuck it up somehow." Ben said.

"You're a good man, Ben." Stef said. "I've never seen Emily Adams happier in my entire life than with you."

"She makes me really happy Stef." Ben said. "I've never felt the way I do with her before."

"I know you've said that you don't believe in soulmates, but do you think she could be the one?" Stef asked.

"I know she is," Ben said. "I love her more than I've loved anybody else in the world."

"Then what's stopping you?" Stef asked.

"My fear of fucking everything up." He said.

"Have you talked to her about it?" Stef asked.

"No, not yet." He said.

"You should." Stef said. "I think she would like to know what's going on up there," she pointed to his head. "I only know that because she's my wife's baby sister and they're really similar." They both smiled at each other, "Out of all of the guys she's brought around, you're my favorite."

"I'm your brother," he said with somewhat of an amused smile on his face.

"I still would tell you if I thought you were an asshole if you were," Stef said. "She brought a lot of them around. Not all were like Alex, but they all emotionally and mentally took advantage of her. That's why Lena and I are so protective."

"I never want to do that," he said.

"We know that," Stef said reaching across to grab his hand.

* * *

Ben and Emily were sitting on his couch, the lawyer cuddled into the businessman as he hand an arm around her and was playing an online video game with Leo, Jesus, and Jude.

"I'm surprised Lena allows the boys to play this game," Emily said looking up from an email from her phone. "It's pretty violent."

"Stef also took Lena out on a date to pamper her a little," Ben said remembering his sister mentioning something like that.

"Really?" Emily asked.

"Yeah something about them getting a couple's massage, dinner, and then a walk down the beach." Ben said.

"Wow, who knew that Stef Adams Foster could be quite the romantic." Emily said thinking of the blonde cop.

"She does anything and everything for her family," Ben said before kissing the top of her head.

"That she does," Emily said.

"Speaking of Stef," Ben said, "she and I had a serious conversation today at lunch."

"Yeah?" Emily acknowledged. "What about?"

"Us," he said simply.

"What about us?" Emily asked curious.

"About how I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I'm afraid that I'm going to fuck it all up." He said.

"Me too," Emily whispered.

"What?" Ben said looking from the tv to his girlfriend.

Emily looked up from her phone into Ben's brown eyes and said, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you too, but I'm scared that I'll fuck it all up."

"This isn't a proposal, yet." He reassured.

"I know it's not baby, but know that I'm feeling the same way." She said kissing his cheek.

"I love you Adams." He said.

"I love you too, Carlson." She said back.

Ben went back to his game and then he murmured, "Emily Adams-Carlson has a nice ring to it."

"I was kind of just hoping for _just_ Carlson." She said.

"What?" He asked.

"I was kind of hoping that my name could just be Emily Carlson." She said.

"What about your job?" He asked. "You're pretty known as Emily Adams."

"Leroy has been calling me Mrs. Benjamin Carlson since the third month of our relationship anyway." She said.

Ben chuckled, "That sounds like something Leroy would do." He said.

"So we have a small company name change," she said. "We'll be Fisher and Carlson Business Law Group. I like that sound of that better."

"Me too," Ben said.

* * *

"You didn't have to take me out on a big romantic date to make me feel special babe," Lena said as she and Stef were walking along the beach.

"I know, but I _wanted_ to." Stef said as she took off her jacket to put it on the ground, so that she could hold Lena in her arms.

"Thank you." Lena said. "For everything."

"You're carrying two of my greatest loves in there," Stef said as she rubbed Lena's belly. "It's the least I could do."

Stef began rubbing her wife's shoulders even after getting an hour massage earlier, "You take such good care of me." Lena said.

"Somebody's got to," Stef said kissing her wife's temple.

"Not gonna lie though, seven months pregnant and I'm beginning to feel really uncomfortable, did you feel this way at six months with Brandon and Callie?" Lena asked.

"Oh yeah," Stef said. "And I'm pretty sure Callie kicked me in all the wrong places at all the wrong times, but it's so worth it."

"I know that much," Lena said as Stef kissed her neck softly.

"I love you," Stef murmured.

"I love you too." Lena said. Stef stopped massaging her wife's shoulder and then buried her face into one of her shoulders making Lena hum. "Remember the first time we cuddled on the beach together like this?" She asked.

Stef smiled into her wife's shoulder, "Of course, it was the first time we shared an 'I love you' with each other." She said.

_Flashback._

It was their sixth, no, seventh date as an official couple, but the first date that they had where legally Stef wasn't married to Mike.

They went to dinner and then took a walk along the beach.

They then sat down on Stef's jacket, Lena between Stef's legs, and the blonde cop said, "Thank you for being patient with me."

"You don't have to thank me, but you're welcome." Lena said. "You're making a real effort."

Stef buried her face into Lena's shoulder, taking in what was slowly becoming her favorite scent, Stef then mumbled something into her love's shoulder.

"What?" Lena turned around and asked for clarification.

"I love you," Stef murmured.

"I love you too." Lena said as she turned around to kiss her girlfriend. "So much."

The two began to make out like a couple of teenagers on the beach until Stef got cold enough to take Lena back to her house, to spend more time with her love.

_End Flashback._

"Right before our first time," Lena mused. "Too bad the kids are home. Sure we can't kick them to Ben's for the night?"

"He and Emily are having a serious conversation about their future tonight." Stef said.

"How do you know?" Lena asked.

"He and I were having a serious conversation about it earlier. He was kind of asking for advice." Stef said kissing Lena's cheek.

"Oh," Lena said.

"You know your parents were pressuring him to make a commitment at Christmas?" Stef asked.

Lena's eyes widened, "They were?" She asked.

"Yeah," Stef said. "He knows he wants to, but he fears that he'll mess everything up."

"That's how Emily feels too." Lena said. "She was talking about it when we found out that they had sex on our pull-out couch."

"Really?" Stef asked.

"Yeah," Lena said. "Our siblings are a lot more fragile then they let on."

"That's the truth," Stef said with her lips pressed to Lena's cheekbone.

"Well I hope they are talking." Lena said. "It's good for them."

"Definitely." Stef said.

* * *

Ben nervously walked into Lena's office a week later, "Hi honey," Lena said. "You alright?"

"I'm sorry to bother you at work," he said. "I just don't know when we'll be able to get a moment alone with each other with how protective Stef is with you."

"It's fine." Lena said. "Come in, shut the door." Ben did and he sat in front of Lena, "What's going on honey?"

"I'm here to ask your permission and for your blessing to marry Emily." He got out.

"What?" Lena asked surprised and amused.

"I know you're not your parents, I've already been talking with them about it." Ben said, "And I know we've been together for less than a year, but we both already agreed to at least a one year engagement and I know how much you and Stef mean to her."

"Ben honey," she said grabbing his hand, "of course."

"Really?" He said looking up.

"Yeah," she said coming to sit next to him. "You have my full blessing and permission."

"Thank you," he said. "I promise to take care of her always."

Lena pulled him from the chair to the couch in her office so that she could hold him as best as she could for being seven months pregnant. "Thank you." She said. "For caring about her heart and loving her so much."

"She makes me happy," he said. "Really happy. Like you make Stef kind of happy."

"You've brought a lot of love and joy into this family." Lena said, "I hope you know that."

"I do," he said resting his head on her shoulder, "Thank you for allowing me to be apart."

"I think Stef is the one you should be thanking." Lena said kissing the top of his head.

"But, she said that you encouraged her to meet me and you were the one that told her if we got along to invite me to dinner that first night." He said.

"Because I know my wife," Lena said. "She didn't want me to go with her that day because she didn't know whether or not you would accept us and she wanted to be sure that you wouldn't hurt us."

"I'm glad that I can be apart," he said then Lena placed his hand on her stomach where one of the twins was kicking. "Is that-"

"One of them has been kicking all morning." Lena said. "I cannot express how grateful we are for this. So thank you."

"It's the least I can do." Ben said. "I hear they've been keeping you over the toilet lately."

"Yeah," Lena said, "but it's worth it."

* * *

"You ordered lunch in?" Stef asked walking in wearing uniform the next day.

"Yeah," he said. "We're celebrating three years of business, so we ordered in."

"Three years?" Stef said with a smile. "Wow."

"Yeah, three incredible years. I didn't think that it would go worldwide in the first year, but it did." Ben said. "A lot of hard work and commitment."

"That's amazing bro." Stef said as he handed her a Coke and to-go box full of Japanese food.

"You have to try it before I tell you what it is." Ben said.

"You sound like Dad." Stef said. "Did he ever say that to you?"

"Yeah, mainly with authentic food that he knew I wouldn't try if he told me what it was. That's how he got me to like Thai food." He said.

"Ah yes," Stef said.

"So I was wondering if I could ask you something," Ben said.

"Of course," Stef said. "What's up?"

"I've gotten permission and blessing from Stuart, Dana, and Lena, but I know you're a huge part of Emily's life too and I want to ask your permission and blessing to marry her."

Stef titled her head, "Did you two talk everything out?" She asked.

He nodded, "We're both scared that we'll fuck everything up." Ben said. "But, we both know that we want to spend the rest of our lives fighting through everything together. We're talking about at least a one year engagement, so it's not going to be proposal and turn around in a few months get married. We want everything to be planned out."

Stef smiled and said, "Of course you have my blessing and permission. You don't need mine though. Stuart, Dana, and Lena is enough."

Ben shrugged, "You mean the world to her Stef and I know that she means the world to you too," he said. "It's the right thing to do."

"So do you have the proposal planned out yet?" Stef asked not missing a beat.

"Not yet, I'm trying to beat your proposal to Lena in the hospital." He said with a smile.

"Funny," she said. "Hilarious."

"I have a few things in mind," he said on a more serious note.

"Really?" Stef asked as she took her first bite of the food.

After she swallowed, Ben said, "It's only teriyaki, rice, and some vegetables." He said. "And yeah, I do. I just don't know if they're good enough I guess."

"Well let me help you out." Stef said, "Start talking it out with me."

"I don't know if I want to go all out, I mean I love her, but that doesn't seem like something she would like." Ben said.

"Emily Mae Adams is quite a simple girl." Stef agreed.

* * *

"So what's going on here?" Jesus whispered to his moms. "Why are we here on a Friday night and not at home?"

"You'll see," Stef whispered back.

Just as the six Adams Foster's were settling on the couch, Ben came in and said, "I have surprise for you guys."

"Uh oh, what is it?" Stef asked with her arm wrapped around Lena.

"Hey, I give good surprises, but this one is only available until Sunday afternoon." Ben said, "Hey surprise, come in."

Out of nowhere, Callie came into the room, "Callie," the family yelled.

"What are you doing here?" Lena asked. "How are you here?"

"Uncle Ben has a private plane and a pilot that brought me here for the weekend." Callie said.

"He's my mama's brother, he owns his own plane. Former Air Force Pilot." Ben said.

"Why are you here though?" Brandon asked his twin. "Not that we didn't want you here, but-"

"I was homesick and needed my family for a minute." Callie said. "And," she whispered, "Uncle Ben is proposing to Aunt Emily and I couldn't miss that."

"I knew it!" Jesus said placing his hand out to Brandon.

Brandon placed ten dollars in Jesus' hands before saying, "I'm happy for you Uncle Ben."

Ben smiled and said, "Thanks B."

"Callie?" Emily said coming in from the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

"It's nice to see you too, Aunt Emily." Callie said feigning hurt.

"No, no honey," Emily said running her hand through her hair. "It's just - did your Uncle David fly him out here?" She asked Ben. "I know you've been talking to him."

"He did," Ben said. "He was flying out to LA to pick up Leo so he could get a tour of West Point anyway. And he was more than happy to fly Callie out for the weekend."

"Oh alright," Emily said running her hand over her face.

"Sissy, what's wrong?" Lena asked.

"Just a long, bad day." Emily said. "I'm glad to be with family though."

Ben wrapped his arm around her and said, "I made you your favorite dinner."

She kissed his cheek, "Thank you baby." She murmured.

"Come on family," Ben said.

Ben led the family to the back porch where they always ate when they were there, Emily tucked into Ben's side and Callie tucked into Lena's.

Dinner was filled with catching up with Callie and Brandon who hadn't been home very much since Someone's Little Sister's studio time was a lot more now.

It didn't go unnoticed that Ben's hand didn't leave Emily's thigh. It didn't go unnoticed that Emily's head didn't leave his shoulder unless she was eating and chewing.

The five children smiled realizing that their uncle and aunt would be spending the rest of their lives happy and together. Stef and Lena smiled because after years of thinking that she wasn't good enough for love, Emily didn't settle for second best anymore.

"Hey," Ben whispered to Emily halfway through dinner, "are you good if I ask you a serious question in front of our sisters and their family?"

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Stef asked from the other side of the table.

Emily nodded and he then spoke up, "I know it's only been nine months, but it's been a beautiful, wonderful, amazing nine months." Ben started. Everybody knew what was going to happen and even though they've talked about getting engaged, Emily was still clueless about what was going on, her bad day still reeling in her head. "But, from the moment I first saw you, I knew that I wanted you in my life forever. You're sweet, you're beautiful, you're kind, patient and funny. You're everything that I have ever wanted in a life partner."

Ben got up, pulled a ring out of his front pocket, and got down on one knee and Emily still not registering what's going on blurted out, "What are you doing?"

Ben's face was amused yet obvious as he said, "Uh, I'm proposing."

Emily's eyes went wide as she became embarrassed and she said, "Oh my god, I'm sorry. Go ahead."

Ben smiled and with tears in his eyes asked, "Emily Mae Adams, will you do me the honor of marrying me and being my wife?"

Emily's eyes filled with tears too, "Yes, of course." She answered as he slipped the ring on her finger and leaned forward in a kiss.

The Adams Foster's clapped and as they came out of the kiss, Ben looked over at his sister and sister-in-law as Lena excitedly said, "Let's see the ring!"

* * *

Later that night, Stef found Ben staring at the ocean with a beer in his hand, she came up behind her brother and put an arm around him, "So where'd you get the beautiful ring?" She asked.

"It was my grandmother's. My mama's mom. My moms gave it to me when I started dating Emily because they knew that she was the one for me." He said.

"Where are Kelly and Payton?" Stef asked. "Don't they want to see you get engaged?"

"They're at West Point with Leo." He said. "Their babies that live in their home come first. I just have to escort them to their seats at the wedding and they'll be fine."

"So you automatically still are in the backseat?" Stef said.

"Stuart and Dana weren't here either. We agreed for it to be simple." He said.

"We got to be apart of it," Stef argued.

"Because out of you, Lena, Stuart, and Dana: you and Lena helped her through hell. She told me mostly everything that you and Lena did for her and I've seen the stuff that you're _still_ doing for her. Of course I wanted you two to be here. Bringing Callie in was just because she and I were talking about it and she said she wish she could be here. So I flew her out."

"Thank you for that, by the way." Stef said. "Lena's been kind of needy for kiddo snuggles lately and Callie is the only kiddo that will snuggle with her."

Ben nodded, "You're welcome." He said. "Whenever you need her, I'll fly her out. I have a pilot's license too."

"You do?" Stef asked. "I never knew."

He shrugged, "Flying is a hobby for me, I don't own a plane or anything. But, I'm hoping to one day." He said.

"Welcome to the family," Stef playfully said.

"Thanks," Ben said. "For everything," he added after a few seconds.

"Thank you for adding to a hole that we never knew was there." Stef said.

"Thanks for letting me," he said. "I know you protected your family at first and I admire that more than you'll ever know."

"You've been a good addition to this family." Stef said. "I love you baby brother." She added a kiss to his cheek as he was six inches taller than she was standing up.

"I love you too big sister." He replied as they stood there in silence for awhile before going back inside joining their family, cuddling their respective significant others close to them.

* * *

**A/N:** So there's about 5-7 more chapters left in this story! But, no worries! There will be a sequel set farther into the future because well every time I think of this story coming to an end it makes me really _sad._

See you next time!


	23. The Road To A Meaning Of A Name

**A/N:** Here we go!

Two week time jump from the last chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three: The Road To A Meaning Of A Name**

Ben walked into the Adams Foster home on the one year anniversary of Frank's death. Stef was holding Lena on the couch when he came in the only Padre sweatshirt that he had. While cleaning out his house, Ben asked if it was okay in honor of their dad if he took his favorite sweatshirt.

"Wow," Stef said surprised. "Don Mattingly of the Dodgers called, he wants all your Dodgers gear back."

"Do you always have to ruin moments like these?" Ben asked.

Stef titled her head as she was just kidding, "You alright?" She asked standing up to wrap her brother up in a hug. He buried his face into her shoulder and nodded. She kissed his head and said, "Let's go." Stef turned to her wife to say goodbye and smiled at the sight.

Lena's hand was resting on her very pregnant belly with her eyes closed. It was early in the morning and with how pregnant she was, she wasn't sleeping well at night. Stef leaned down and kissed her two babies inside of her wife's belly and then her wife.

"Hm?" Lena said at first before kissing her wife back. "Ben here?"

"Hi Lena," he said.

Lena looked up to see Ben standing next to her wife, "Hi honey." She said.

"We're going to head out," Stef said. "Go back up to the bed. It'll be more comfortable for you."

"Okay," she slowly stood up with both Stef and Ben's help. Kissed Ben's cheek and then her wife's lips before making her way upstairs.

Once Lena got upstairs and they heard the master bedroom door softly shut, Ben said, "I'll drive. I have coffee for you in the car."

"Thanks." She said. "I appreciate it."

Ben led them out leaving Stef to lock the door behind them and when she turned around she saw Emily walking up the driveway, "I'm here to cuddle with my sister." She said. "I have my key. Go ahead." The lawyer said.

"Don't I get a hug first?" Stef asked blocking her baby sister's way to the door.

Emily smiled, "Of course," she said hugging the blonde. "I love you Stefy."

"I love you too Emmy." She responded. "Your sister is looking forward to Emily snuggles."

"Ben's taking you out to breakfast," Emily whispered. "Please don't be stubborn and let him pay."

Stef smiled, "Okay," she responded and then she kissed Emily's cheek before making sure she got inside okay.

When Stef walked to the car, Ben said, "I like the way you take care of her."

Stef smiled, "She's my baby sister." She shrugged.

"It's just nice, y'know? Especially since she thought you were going to hate her at first." Ben said.

"I could never hate her," Stef said. "I just was protective with Brandon and Callie." Stef said.

Ben chuckled, "Oh okay." He said. A few minutes of silence went on and then he said, "So we're slowly beginning to plan the wedding."

"Yeah?" Stef asked taking a sip of her coffee.

"And I was wondering if you could take the place as the best uh well woman in your case, but the title of best man." He asked. "Emily is asking Lena to be her maid of honor."

"Really?" Stef asked. "You want me to your best woman?"

"I do," he said. "You and Leo are going to share the title, well him being best man. Emily's going to have Leah be her second maid of honor. We wanted it to be a sibling thing and well, Emily and Leah have this bond that nobody can describe."

"They do," Stef said remembering Thanksgiving and a little of Christmas. "So myself, Lena, Leo, and Leah? Have you discussed the kids yet?"

"We just were talking about it after we finish moving her in last night," he said.

"Finally asked her to move in with her, huh?" Stef asked.

Ben nodded, "The night of the proposal. She just had to wait for her lease to run out and it did last week." He said.

"Awh," Stef said. "Thank you for taking care of her for us."

Ben shrugged, "It's more of a pleasure, really." He said.

The two drove in silence for the rest of the way to the cemetery to see their dad. Stef had been a couple of times since they buried him, but Ben had never been to the graveside. It was going to be an interesting morning.

* * *

Emily was curled into Lena on Stef's side of the bed rubbing her hand on her sister's seven and a half month baby bump, "So have you come up with any names yet?"

"We've come up with some," Lena said playing with her sister's curls. "We haven't agreed on any yet."

"Is Stef trying to name one of them after Frank?" Emily asked.

"Surprisingly, it's the other way around." Lena said. "She's just not feeling it. I think we'll know once we see them."

"That's how Mom and Dad named us, right?" Emily asked placing her head on her sister's chest.

"Yeah, though, I got to help name you." Lena said kissing her baby sister's head. "And I'll be honest when I say I had a huge crush on some girl named Emily when you were born."

Emily chuckled, "Did you tell Mom and Dad that?" She asked loving the one-on-one time the two of them were having.

Lena smiled, "Funny enough, no. Mom thought it was a beautiful name. And Mae is because of her mom." The older sister said.

Silence fell between the two sisters, before Emily said, "So Ben and I officially started planning the wedding last night after we finished moving me into his place."

"Oh?" Lena said.

"I was wondering if you could be my maid of honor? Ben is asking Stef to be his best woman." Emily said drawing lazy patterns on her sister's baby bump.

Tears welled in Lena's eyes, "Of course, I'd be honored." She said.

Emily looked up and into her sister's eyes, "Oh sissy," she said looking at the tears.

"Sorry, pregnancy hormones." Lena responded. "My baby sister is just growing up."

Emily blushed and looked down, "I wouldn't be half the person I am today without you though sissy." The younger sister said.

"I wouldn't be half the person I am today without you either sissy." Lena said kissing her sister's forehead.

Emily buries her face into Lena's chest, "I'm really tired." She said.

"Let's sleep for a little bit," Lena agreed kissing the top of her sister's head.

* * *

Ben and Stef were standing in front of Stef's grave. They had been standing there for twenty minutes, not moving or saying anything.

Stef finally looked over to her brother to see the he had tears threatening to spill over, she walked over and wrapped an arm around him and started speaking to the gravestone, "Hey Dad, it's us. Stef and Ben. You know it's quite a shame that you kept him a secret from me in your life because he's the best brother I could ever ask for." Stef looked over at her brother who had tears flowing down his face still looking at the grave, "We've had quite a bond over the last year." Stef stood up a little on her tip toes and kissed his cheek, "I'm going to give you two a minute. I love you Daddy."

Stef walked away leaving Ben with the grave, cold and alone, and Ben said, "Uh hey Pops." He scratched the back of his neck and said, "It hasn't been easy and I didn't ask Stef what cemetery you were at because I wasn't ready for that kind of closure, but uh I am now." He took a deep breath, "You were right about Stef, she's pretty great, well minus the fact that she's a Padre fan." He let out a chuckle, "Speaking of which, I'm sure you know that you guys took Matt Kemp from us during the offseason, I'll probably always be bitter because of that." He scratched the back of his head and then said, "I'm getting married. Funny enough, to Lena's sister, the woman you would always make fun of me for liking."

He took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry." He got out another shaky breath, "I'm sorry for what I said. I shouldn't have left angry. I love you Dad. A lot and I know you did the best you knew how. I'm sorry that I scared you all those times, I'm sorry I left angry."

Ben fell to his knees and fell over and cried for a minute, only stopping when he felt Stef shift his head into her lap.

"Let it out," Stef said. "I got you, let it out."

* * *

That afternoon, Stef was holding Lena while Ben was holding Emily, the Adams sisters knew better than to not asked the Elkin-blooded siblings how it was just yet. They knew how they worked, they had to process it before speaking about it.

"So do you guys have a date set yet?" Lena asked as Stef drew mindless circles on the principal's pregnant belly.

"Late December. So Callie and Leo can be here." Emily said.

"Awh," Lena said.

Silence filled the room before Ben finally broke it, "Do you think he knew?" He asked Stef.

"Knew what bro?" Stef asked.

"That you'd come and find me?" He asked.

"He left me a letter," Stef said. "Of course he knew I'd find you. According to Lena, I'm impulsive."

"I said that out of love," Lena quickly said.

"Do you miss him?" Ben asked.

"I miss the hell out of him." Stef answered. "Do you miss him?"

"Of course I do." Ben said. "I miss him a lot."

The Adams sisters looked at each other, knowing that their loves needed a moment, Emily got up and then helped Lena up, "He was a good dad." Stef said. "He didn't know how, but he did his best."

"Is it true that you thought snow falling out of the sky meant the sky was dusty?" Ben asked.

"He told you the first time I saw snow, huh?" Stef said moving to curl into her brother.

Ben wrapped his arm securely around his sister, "Yeah, I took him snowboarding when I was 18." He said.

"So you're the person who took all those pictures of him falling on his ass?" Stef said.

"Yeah, that was me." He said.

"Those were good pictures." Stef said with her head on his shoulder as Emily came rushing in.

"What's wrong sissy?" Stef asked.

"L-l-lena's water broke." She said as calm as she could.

"What?" Both Stef and Ben said jumping up.

"Lena's-"

"No we heard you the first time honey," Stef said rushing into the kitchen. "Lena, baby?"

"I'm fine for right now." Lena said. "I thought I was feeling contractions, but I didn't know."

"It's fine," Stef said. "We're going to go to the hospital. I'll take you and I'll have Ben and Emily round up the rest of the kids and call the big twins."

"Okay," Lena said. "And Stef?"

"Yeah baby?" Stef said looking at her wife.

"Remember to breathe." She said.

* * *

Brandon all, but ran into the hospital with Lou three hours later to see his family sitting in the waiting room, "Any news?" He asked his aunt and uncle as they came up to him.

"Not yet." Emily said. "But, your mama is going to be okay. Women typically give birth to twins early. Everything's fine."

"Does Callie know?" Brandon asked knowing that she would hate to be the last to know.

"Yes," Ben said. "She can't make it back until spring break in a few weeks, but she's been asking for an update every 30 minutes."

"What about Pops and Grams and Grandma Sharon?" Brandon asked.

"They're all on the next flight out." Emily assured.

Just as she said that Stef came out to check on the family, "Hi B," she said when she saw her oldest son as her three youngest jumped to their feet to get an update.

"How is she?" Brandon asked.

"She's six centimeters dilated." She said. "This will probably be the only time I'll come out here."

"Is she okay?" Mariana asked.

"She's tired, but that's to be expected." Stef said. "I just came to check on you guys, I need to get back to Mama."

"Give her our love," Brandon said, his hand holding Lou's.

Stef kissed his cheek, "I will." She said.

Just as Stef was out of eye sight, Ben's phone buzzed, "It's Callie," he said. "I'll take it outside." He walked out of the hospital and said, "Hi Callie."

_"How is she?" Callie asked._

"She's tired and six centimeters dilated." Ben answered. "How are you?" He asked knowing that the girl had been calling him on bad days instead of her moms.

_"Why does college have to be so hard Uncle Ben?" Callie asked. "I'm used to school being easy."_

"Mmmhm." Ben listened.

_"I have to choose a major, write all these papers, and off season practice? I just want my mama." She said._

"Not your mom?" Ben asked.

_"I love my mom, but my mama is the one who cuddles more. Even she would want my mama in this case, I want my mama." Callie explained._

"Well I can guarantee you that your mama is going to want to cuddle with you when you come home for spring break." Ben said.

_"Even with the babies?" Callie asked._

Ben sighed, it was that moment that he realized that the little twins and Jude weren't the only ones with issues of abandonment, "Even with the babies." He said. "She wishes that you were here, I know she does. B just got here, this family isn't complete without you, but you know what Callie?"

_"What?" Callie said evidently wiping away tears._

"You choose Penn State to get a new start, to succeed in life. It's hard, I'm not knocking that, but you have to do what you need to do to be the best Callie Foster that you can be. Can you do that for me? For your moms and dad. For your siblings? For your family? Can you do that for us?" This was Ben's way of giving her a pep talk and this was the best way he could do it.

_"You're right. Thank you Uncle Ben." Callie said._

"You're welcome kiddo." Ben said. "I'll send you text updates, but I'm going to go sit with your Aunt Emily and siblings now okay?"

_"Okay. I love you Uncle Ben."_

"I love you too, Callie." Ben said before they said their goodbyes.

* * *

It took close to ten more hours before Stef finally came out and by that time, Lena's parents and Sharon had made their way to the hospital. Stef looked beyond exhausted.

"So?" Dana asked jumping up.

"They're here." Stef announced, "And they're beyond healthy."

"Good," Dana said. "And Lena?"

"She's exhausted, but she hasn't slept much since the fifth month anyway. So that's to be expected." Stef said.

"Good, good." Dana said.

"We want you all to meet them, but we want their godparents to meet them first." Stef said.

"Why us?" Emily asked taking Ben's hand.

"Uh follow me and I'll let Lena explain." Stef said wrapping her arms around both her siblings.

The rest of the family watched them walk away and Jesus asked, "What do you think it is?"

"They named them both after somebody special." Stuart said.

"Probably Frank," Sharon added lovingly.

* * *

When the three of them made their way into Lena's room, the younger couple saw Lena sitting up with two babies propped up against her arms making Emily gasp.

"Hey," Lena said looking up at the three of them, "come meet your godchildren."

Ben stood behind Emily as Stef went to the other side and Emily said, "Sissys, they're beautiful."

"Really beautiful." Ben added. "What're their names?"

"That's why we wanted you back here first." Stef said.

"If you named them after us, you didn't have to," Ben said.

"It's mixed matched." Stef said. "Between the two of you and our dad."

"Really?" The younger couple said.

"This little beauty," Stef said picking up her daughter and placing her into Emily's arms, "is Mae Francis Adams Foster."

"So you named her after grandma?" Emily looked up confused at her sisters.

"No," Lena said. "We named her after you. Grandma's nickname was Mae, remember? Her legal name was Megan, but she hated that name."

"Right," Emily remembered starting to bounce the little girl.

"And this little guy right here," Stef said picking up her son, "is Cooper Lincoln Adams Foster."

"Cooper?" Ben asked as Stef put the boy in the man's arms.

"Dad's middle name." Stef said.

"Oh right," Ben said. "So why us? I understand Dad, but us?"

"Yeah," Emily agreed. "Why us?"

Stef and Lena looked at each other and after Lena nodded, Stef said looking at Ben, "A year ago today, I didn't know who you were. I didn't know that I had a little brother, who needed a big sister. We didn't know that there were holes in our hearts that needed to be filled. A year ago today, I found out father dead in his house and my whole world stopped for a moment. Then two months later, you came into our lives and made it better. Sure, Callie made it a little difficult at first and there were times where I thought you'd up and leave, but you stayed. You allowed us into he deepest part of you. You let us love you and in return you loved us, you loved with a deeper kind of love, _our_," she gestured between her and Lena, "baby sister. We named him after you because quite frankly, you're one of the strongest people that we know. Cooper _Lincoln_ Adams Foster is really lucky to have such a name and such a positive male influence on his life."

"And _Mae_ Francis Adams Foster is named after you," Lena said, "because we hope that one day, she'll never have to experience what you've been through, but we hope that she could be strong yet soft, independent and beautiful as your are. Stef and I watched you go through it all and though yes, you rightfully broke down every once in awhile, you were one of the strongest people we know. She's lucky to have such a name and such a positive female influence in her life."

"So Ben and Emily," Stef said, "Cooper Lincoln Adams Foster and Mae Francis Adams Foster are your godchildren."

Ben and Emily looked from their sisters to the babies then to each other and had a look in their eyes, both watery and both very grateful for their sisters.

* * *

A few weeks went by and the twins were settled in at home, the twins slept side by side in the moms' room and Callie was on her way home for spring break.

Stef went solo to pick Callie up from the airport giving Lena time to clean up the twins so they would look a little more presentable to meet their oldest sister.

Stef waited patiently in the baggage claim for her baby girl and when she saw the girl with her duffle bag and carrying on wearing a pair of soccer pants and a Penn State t-shirt, the blonde cop's smile grew big, she didn't know that her smile could get bigger when she heard out of her daughter's mouth, "Mom!"

Stef met the girl at the bottom of the escalator and wrapped her up in a huge hug lifting her off of the ground and kissing her cheek repeatedly.

"Hi baby," Stef said putting her down while grabbing her face. "I'm glad to have you home for a week!"

"Me too," Callie said. "Where's Mama?" She asked a little disappointed. "She _always_ comes with you."

"Sorry kiddo, the twins needed her a little extra this morning." Stef said. "Don't worry though, we're going straight home."

Callie smiled, "Cool." She said. "I can't wait for mama snuggles and to meet my siblings."

Stef smiled, "Mama's been wanting Callie snuggles lately." She said. "She's really missed you."

"Well then let's go!" Callie playfully pushed her mom to the exit, "Don't want to keep Mama waiting!"

Stef laughed and wrapped her arm around the girl, "How much airplane coffee have _you_ had this morning?" She asked her daughter.

"Not enough, but let's go!" She said playfully.

* * *

"They're adorable," Callie said curled into her mama several hours later. "They look a little like Uncle Ben though. The 50% Asian in him kicked in, they'd be cuter if they looked a lot like you."

"Hey, I heard that!" Ben called from the other room where he was watching a Padre-Dodger game with Stef.

"I love you," Callie called back.

"Uh huh, suuure." Ben said. "I love you too kiddo."

Callie put her head on Lena's shoulder continuing to look at the babies, "Whatcha thinking about slug-a-bug?" Lena asked.

"I've been having some problems at school." Callie admitted wanting to be honest with her mama.

"What kind of troubles sweetheart?" Lena asked.

"I'm passing all my classes, but they're _hard._ I miss school being easy." She admitted.

"You could call me if you need help." Lena said.

"I don't want to cut into your time where you need to be with the babies." Callie said.

"I can do both baby." Lena said. "I promise you that."

"I don't want you to feel like you have to," Callie said.

"It's not a chore for me my love." Lena said. "Never a chore."

"Okay," Callie said. "I just don't want you and Mom to worry."

"That's our job as mothers," Lena assured.

"I love you Mama." Callie said placing her head on her shoulder.

"I love you too slug-a-bug." Lena said kissing her oldest daughter's forehead.

The two sat there cuddling, watching the two babies sleep, and every once and awhile Lena would kiss Callie's head and squeezing her tighter in a way to remind the girl of how much her mama loves her.

* * *

**A/N2:** So it wasn't really revealed until the Christmas episode what Frank's last name was and by that time the name Elkin was used a lot in this story so that's why I had Frank's middle name be Cooper.

But, the babies are here! As you can see I'm wrapping up some loose ends because their are about to up The Road In Which Life Leads and start the sequel.


End file.
